Same Thing, Different Time
by aishiteru-inu
Summary: Every since she was given the necklace as a birthday gift usual things have been happen out of the ordinary, nothing bad until one day after being chase life just isn't the same. Very revised Chapter 19. Additional reading.
1. The Chase

This is my first attempt at writing a Fanfiction story. My own writings have always been private and only for myself, but since finding the site I've gotten the urge to share my own story line. It's not all that long, but I hope that I've been able to capture your attention to encourage for more. Your opinions and thoughts are appreciated, but please be kind if there's something critical you have to say.

Disclaimer: Even though he may own my heart (too!) -- I do not own any part of InuYasha, and I do not seek to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. This story is only a fanciful musing from a person that totally adorns the characters and story as it is (and sometimes wish that I was really a part of that life and not the one I'm in now). 

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 1: The Chase

Her feet pounded the pavement as she ran as fast as she could as if the devil himself was after her, heart pounding against the bone of her chest so hard she thought it would rip out of it's cage. Her lungs felt that they were near to bursting as she gasped for each breath she took. The sharp sting of air hurt the back of her throat as she continued to run, but she couldn't stop, if she did he would catch her and then…. She didn't want to think about that. 

Down the concrete steps she ran, jumping that last few. That was a mistake for she found herself tumbling forward until she was sprawled upon the ground. Her right knee burned terribly and so did the palm of her hands, but without thought or hesitation she launched herself up and took off again. 

Fear was the only thing that kept her going, because her legs felt as though they were lead weights as she struggled to put one in front of the other. 

She half ran, half skidded down the embankment where there was a tunnel bridge. If she could just get to the other side of that tunnel she wouldn't be too far from her home. 

Risking a glance behind her, she looked over her shoulder just before entering the darkened tunnel, but she didn't see anyone behind her. In a jarring halt, she plastered herself up against the side of the cold wall, listening, trying to control her breathing as it interfered with her hearing. Even the blood that pumped through her veins made it difficult for the thump, thump, thump pounded rhythmically inside her head, pulsing at her temples.

"Remain calm," she told herself silently, trying to gather her frightened nerves together. "Remain calm."

She couldn't hear any sign of approaching foot falls, but at least she didn't see the appearance of anyone either. 

Slowly she backed further into the under bridge walkway, keeping to the darker shadows against the wall as if the bright white coloring of her shirt wasn't like a beacon in itself! Several more seconds passed, but it was to give her more of a chance to catch her breath than anything else, then she turned to continue her escape.

The soft pounding of her paten leather shoes made the only sounds of footsteps she heard. She was nearly at the end of the tunnel, and still there was no one, having looked behind her twice more to see if she was still being pursued. No one that is until she turned her glance back around to the front of her and that's when she stopped dead in her tracks. 

Was it her imagination or did this guy just drop down from the 12 foot high overpass? It was only a blur as she was in the process of turning her head back around, but by whatever means, he now stood in front of her. 

He stood there with legs apart, wearing a pair of old faded blue jeans with the knees splitting out across the fabric; fringes of threads hung around the edges of the holes. The shoes he had on his feet looked like they were once some kind of name brand, but the logo had long since been scuffed off and the soles were well wore. They were only loosely tied which amazed her that he kept up with her so well. The bright red tee shirt he wore looked as if he had ripped the sleeves off, and it allowed his bare arms to be fully exposed to show the sleek muscled curves of his upper arms, which, by the way, he had crossed in front of his chest. Black fingerless, leather gloves sported each hand.

Her gaze rose up further, and upon inspection she noticed a string of beads and -- what were those? claws? teeth? -- around his neck. Looking past his shoulder, she couldn't mistake the silver-white of his hair as it cascaded down to an unknown length behind him. Hair? Is that what one would call it, because it looked more like silky strands of fluff than regular hair for the way it had more body to it.

Lifting her eyes a bit more should have had her looking him square in the face, but her eyes caught sight of something else which immediately took her attention to a much higher point of his head. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that there were two white triangular shapes atop his head, which peeked over the silver white mane of hair. Ears? He had… dog ears?

So fascinated at such an unusual sight, she forgot about the fear of her immediate personal danger. Her lips parted slightly and she had just felt the twinge of muscles at the corner of her mouth starting to curl when the deep male voice snapped her out of her reverie.

"You've got something of mine, and I want it back!" he snapped with a bit of malevolence. "Either give it to me now, or you won't like what I do next."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 1 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Well, I know it's kind of short, but did it capture your attention enough to want to read more? Did it read Ok for you to follow even though the characters haven't names in this part of the story. Let me know. Remember to be kind with your words. Oh, does anyone know the Japanese word for puppy? I know I've came across it somewhere, but can't find it right now.


	2. Caught and Seized

Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

Thanks To RaiQen for reading my story and giving me such a great encouragement to send a second part.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 2: Caught and Seized

"You've got something of mine, and I want it back!" he snapped with a bit of malevolence. "Either give it to me now, or you won't like what I do next."

Her eyes shot to his face and she almost flinched at the golden eyes that stared at her. They seemed to burn into her, almost glowing in the darkness of the tunnel.

"I--I don't k-know what you're t-talking about." she stammered, taking a tentative step back, glancing quickly behind her. Was there two of them now? He wasn't the one the had been chasing her before.

"The necklace, you idiot," he snapped again. "I want the damn necklace! It's mine, so give it to me!"

Her hand went immediately up to the piece of jewelry that hung around her neck. Her fingers touched the smooth round stone, sliding up to feel the pointed jags of the crystals which made up the necklace itself.

"This necklace doesn't belong to you," she argued back with fringed bravery, taking yet another backward step. "It was given to me."

He snorted maliciously, one side of his mouth pulling back in a snarl, baring what looked to be a pointed canine tooth! His brows knitted nearly together at the top of his nose, lids dropping down to partially cover his eyes, yet even though they were half hidden from it they gleamed ever that much more brightly.

"I'm tired of waiting, wench! The smell of you is making me sick!" 

Her foot took another step behind her, and this time when her foot touch ground, she pivoted around and took off running in the direction that she had came from. 

Her body burst out into the open, into the light of day. Whatever head start she had, she knew that her pursuer wasn't too far behind and gaining on her with every step she took. So with determined strength, she tried vainly to make herself run faster. 

She couldn't help taking a glance behind, eyes growing wide when she saw he was nearly within reaching distance. Her mouth opened, and a scream started to weld up out of her throat when abruptly the scream was cut short and replaced with an 'oof'. The unexpected collision sent her flying, along with whatever hit her, into the air and then landed several feet away in a jarring thud on the ground. 

She laid there, eyes closed, coughing from the wind being knocked out of her, but her excursion was not yet over as in the next moment she felt herself yanked painfully upward until she heard a snap. Instantly she felt a burning sensation on either side of her neck as the crystal shards cut into her skin as it was broken free of her.

"No," she yelled, reaching out to grab it. A spreading warmth started to envelop her, but quickly dissolved when she was shoved violently back down. She heard the cruel snicker of the robber just before her head slammed against the ground. Flashes of colored lights burst into view behind her closed lids. 

She winced from the pain, reaching a hand up to her forehead, and after -- she didn't know how many moments she laid there -- she heard what sounded like a scuffle nearby. Forcing her eyes open, she looked straight into the sky, then blinked hard against the light, then she rolled herself onto her side, peering about to see what was going on. She blinked hard again, trying to focus her sight, and finally her eyes fell upon the two men locked together in a struggle about twenty or so yards away. She watched as each one took punches at the other, some connecting, others not. But in the force of their blows, they would send each other flying only to get up and take some more.

"This is crazy," her mind buzzed. "What in the world is going on?!"

Something bright and shiny caught her attention, glittering rainbow shards of light as it reflected in the sun's light. It was her necklace! Just laying there on the ground only a few of feet away from her, forgotten by both of the two that were in a heated exchange of blows. Rising to her knees, she crawled over to the cast away piece of jewelry. 

Reaching out, she glanced up at the two which were still fighting, but as her fingers closed over it, she saw the dark haired guy crash to the ground once again and this time he didn't get back up. With her gaze still fixed upon the scene, she saw that the one in the red tee-shirt was standing, motionless, as if waiting for the other to rise up again, but after a few moments, when it was evident that he wasn't, his body relaxed somewhat.

"Is that all you got?" she heard him say as she sat back upon her legs, the necklace now within the clasp of her hand. "Feh!" he exclaimed in disgust, straighten to stand his full height.

Wordlessly, she sat there, unable to move, even when he turned that silver-white mane of his to look at her. She felt a jolt, like little threads of electricity, shoot through her as she could only stare. Fear also gripped her, telling her to get up and run, but for some reason her legs just wouldn't budge. 

"He won't be bothering you again," he said almost as if he had came to her rescue instead of being one of them which had been chasing her, then dusted his hands together in a matter-of-fact manner. 

He started to walk toward her then, his eyes not leaving her face. "Are you alright?"

Now she was really confused! Wasn't he…? Didn't he…?

She rose up off the ground, her lips parted to answer him, but she was cut off by another voice behind her.

"Freeze! Get your hands up!"

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	3. Baka! Baka! Baka!

Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

Sorry, but I'm gonna raise the rating to an PG-13. I just feel better because of a few words and/or the way they're said. It's not really bad, bad just a bit crass, and I just want to be safe and not worry about it.

Thanks To those that have given me such great reviews. I'm really touched because I've not shared any of my writings before, and I worried about the response I would get (or worried that there wouldn't be any!). Thanks even the couple that were a bit 'confused' but that's what it was suppose to do a bit, because that's the way the girl in the story viewed it as too. ^_^ 

Hope that I can continue to write something you find worth taking your time to read. I really appreciate it.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 3: Baka! Baka! Baka!

"Freeze! Get your hands up!"

Startled, she twisted around, opened mouth and found a handful of police officers standing there, guns out, and held in readiness to fire.

Vaguely she heard one of them order, "Move out of the way, Miss" but before she could react herself, she felt her arm being taken hold of and pulled away until she was safely behind them. She quickly looked over at the dog eared guy with the silvery-white hair and saw that he had done exactly what they had said to do -- his arms were out to the side, elbows bent, hands up in the air, and palms facing forward.

"Get on the ground now!" 

A low menacing growl vibrated in his throat, as debated what to do. Certainly, he could easily escape if he wanted to, but he decided to follow through with what he was ordered to do. For one thing, it was a damn pain in the ass eluding these jerks because they were everywhere, and he didn't feel like nursing any wounds he'd get from those toys they used as weapons. And for another, he caught whiff of a familiar scent.

Resigningly -- (I don't think this is a real word, but it felt like it fit in the story better like this), -- he knelt, then laid prone on the ground.

The girl watched as he positioned himself. He looked to have known the posture by experience as he situated himself spread eagle a bit.

She continued to watch, a bit rounded eyed, as two of the officers rushed toward him, and were none too gentle as they captured his arms and twisted them behind his back. She heard him grunt in discomfort as they did so and then slip some kind of plastic looking strand around his thumbs entrapping them together. And without any gentleness, they hefted him up by the back of the hair and by the shoulder, until he was up on his knees.

"InuYasha," a woman's voice rolled his name out from her mouth. "Should have known it'd be you."

"Feh!" the captured guy growled. "You're always trying to bust my balls, you old crone! Don't you think it's time you retired? You should at least get a vacation in before you croak. Or does making my life miserable keep you from keeling over?" 

The stout woman started to move toward him, taking only a couple of steps past the girl, then stopped. A heavy sigh was upon her breath. "You are a troublesome pup." she said as if to herself, then added, addressing the officers around InuYasha, "Take him down to the precinct, and put him in a holding cell by himself. Don't forget the seals."

"What?! But I didn't do anything…!" **_'…yet'_** he added that last part only in his head, as he started to struggle to break the tie which bound him. It earned him a cuff across the ear.

He winced, dropping down slightly, but erected himself quickly and barred his teeth at the officer that struck him. 

"You can either spend the night there or I can have your brother called. The choice is yours."

His lips tighten, pressed against each other as if to keep from saying anything more that he would regret. His face scrunched up in frustrated anger as he heatedly eyed the older woman. 

Finally he gave up the silent debate and mumbled with a rebellious pout, "I'll stay."

The older woman nodded, but the look on her face was one of regretful agreement. She turned away from him and moved back toward the direction she had come.

"Are you alright, girl? Did he not harm you any?" 

The girl actually had to look down at bit, when the woman stopped in front of her and asked.

"Yes," she started. "I - I mean no. I mean…"

"Baka! Make up your stupid mind!" the guy half snarled as they led him past her.

Chocolate eyes turned and locked momentarily on the gleaming gold ones. **_'Who are you? Why does it feel like…?'_** But the moment was fleeting and it was she that broke their gaze.

"I mean, yes," she returned her sight back to the police lady. "I'm alright. A little scuffed up from tripping and being knocked down, but I'm alright, and no _he_ didn't hurt me." And then silently to herself, **_'At least it didn't come to the moment where I found out if he would have.'_ **

"How… did you… know to come?"

"Someone made a call made about a young woman being pursued by some hoodlum punk around this location. We came to check out the call, and spotted the activity going on as we pulled over back there." The young girl's gaze followed the slight turn of the police lady, indicating the vehicles were just over the slight inclining embankment, the same direction that they were leading the guy named InuYasha. Leading him? Actually they were having a bit of trouble leading him anywhere as he 'dragged his heels' so to speak as he walked, slowing their progress.

"Oh," she murmured quietly.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"Umm… well…" Why was she finding it difficult to tell her? Why did she feel this strong need to protect this strange looking puppy eared guy, when he had so obviously tried to chase her down too? He was deserving of getting exactly what he was by scaring her like that anyway.

"Ummm… That guy there was the one that had been chasing me." she started again, pointing toward the figure several yards away, which was still laying on the ground. One of the other officer's was there checking him out. "He's the one that attacked me and stole my necklace. And that one…" turning her finger to the one they were taking away, "he.. he saved me from him…" she added the words 'kind of' in a lower voice. "There was a bit of a fight between the two, but I managed to get my necklace back."

Baka! Baka! Baka! What was she doing? Dog-boy over there had been chasing her down just as well. He wanted the same thing as this other creep, but why she was hesitant to let him suffer the consequences she didn't really know. There was just something… 

The old woman stared at her. The girl felt a bit conscious of hiding that fact and dropped her eyes from the woman, then she opened her hand to show her the recovered piece of jewelry with an awkward smile on her face.

She nervously watched as the woman cocked an eyebrow upon seeing the item in the girl's hand, then her gaze went up to the hanyou that was still being reluctant to being escorted over the incline to one of the vehicle that sat in waiting just on the other side. The woman made a guttural sound of only one note and the retreating officers stopped, glancing back at her. Even the one that was bound and being taken away did the same.

"Come with me." she said and took the girl by the lower arm as she led her toward them.

"Is it true?" the women finally asked once there was only several feet separating them, starring into the golden eyes of the hanyou prisoner. 

"Is what true, you withered old witch?"

"InuYasha, if you think I'm going to tolerate any more of your foul mouth, you've got another think coming." she reprimanded. "Right now you have a reprieve, and if I was you, I'd think twice about what you want to do with it."

He had something on the tip of his tongue to say, but he clamped his mouth shut. Still, it didn't stop the subtle growl vibrating in the back of his throat.

"Is it true as to what she said?"

This time those sparkling golden eyes turned on the girl standing there, and a deeper, more serious light crossed his expression. "I don't know what she said," which for the moment was true since his ears were still ringing from the whack he received against them earlier. "but I didn't do anything to her." **_'…yet,'_** his mind, again, added silently. "That guy over there jumped on her and took the damn necklace…. She's lying if she said I touched her!"

"Being a good Samaritan, InuYasha?"

**_'At helping myself, yeah.'_** He didn't answer, only gave her a scrunched up scowl.

The old woman glance once again to the girl who couldn't seem to take her eyes off of InuYasha. 

"You sure?" Her words rang in the girl's ears as if she was asking her if this was the story she wanted to stay with. 

The girl found herself nodding slowly.

"He is telling the truth?" 

Tearing her gaze away from him, she glanced shyly at the woman once again. "Uh-huh. Yes. Just like I said."

InuYasha stood there, his eyes reflecting the disbelief he felt as he continued to stared at the girl.

There was a moment of silence.

"Take the bind off of him," the order was made.

The girl couldn't help the small smile that etched her mouth when she glance back and saw the dumbfounded expression on his face as he stared at her. 

Oblivious to her own self, she didn't know that the smile reached her eyes as they seemed to soften from the previous scare she had just experience. Color was now returning back to her cheeks as the heat of a blush swept across them, and not being able to hold her gaze to his any longer, she veiled her eyes with her thick lashes as she glance down as if studying his shoes.

It was all really just a few moments before the binding was taken off, having to be cut away to free him. He brought his arms back around to the front of him to rub the thumbs that had been captured.

"Think yourself blessed, InuYasha," he heard the woman say and all he returned in reply was, "Yeah, yeah." Blowing her off with an indifferent wave of his hand.

The older police woman and the two younger people stood where they were as the other police took into custody the other guy who was just groggily waking up. His hands were tied behind his back in a like fashion that previous prisoner's had been.

InuYasha gaze went back to the girl briefly that stood a few feet away from him. She tried to look as if nothing was the matter, but he could easily pick up the uncomfortable nervous scent of her. She didn't look at him at all, not even a curious glance. In fact he was sure that she deliberately keeping herself from doing so. 

The dark haired man eyed the three as it was now he that was escorted toward the vehicles which were just beyond them. 

"Don't think this is the end of it," he threw at them as he went by, trying to keep them in his sight by looking over his shoulder even after he was past them and being placed into one of the cars.

InuYasha didn't miss the sudden fear that gripped her either, even though she still did not show an outward change.

As if to distract from the moment at hand, the police woman said in a tone that was not like that of the stern officer minutes ago. "I see that you still have those beads, InuYasha." And she reached out a slightly withered hand to lightly touch them.

His eye rolled upward in a silent fashion of saying stupid, then gurgled a "Feh" before slightly twisting to rid himself of her touch. A faint smile etched upon her lips anyway and she retreated, casting a fleeting glance at the girl that stood nearby.

"Consider this, InuYasha," she said as she began to walked away. "you've been given another chance."

The two continued to stand where they were. They watched as the people packed themselves into the vehicles and within a short time left, leaving them very much alone.

InuYasha absently kicked at the dirt with the toe of his shoe, having shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. There was a uncomfortable silence between them, but finally he was the one to break it.

"Don't worry about it. He shouldn't be getting out for at least a day or two."

Unable to speak herself, she just nodded.

"And thanks," he continued. "That old crone really has it for me. She's always finds a way to put me on a short leash."

The girl looked up at him, an embarrassed smile adorned her mouth, which radiated over her entire face. She couldn't help the oddity of the uses of the words spoken within the recent events. Pup? Leash? And a guy with dog ears at the top of his head? And to beat all, her hands wanted so badly to reach out and tweak them between her fingers to see if they were indeed real. She had to look away lest he read her thoughts. 

'**_And why wouldn't they be?'_ **She chimed to herself. _ '**Why else would a guy have something like those on his head if they weren't real?'**_

'Who is this girl? She looks so similar, but her scent… it's different.'

"What's your name?" he finally asked.

Her gaze went to meet his, and she said, "K-Kagome. Kagome Higurashi."

"Kagome." he repeated softly, and she glanced down away from his gaze with that same embarrassed looking expression on her face. 

"Well, Kagome," he announced in a much firmer tone, which brought her head up in a snap. "You gonna give me that necklace, or are we going to start where we left off!"

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 3 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Yes, I know. Eyes up, eyes down, eyes up, eyes down. Kind of like wax on, wax off from a well known movie. But I hope it read well enough to get the conflict of emotions and behavior across and not read too lame.

Does that help clear up the 'confusion' in the last chapter, or did I make it more confusing? O_O

I know he's flip flopping between good and being bad, but then again he wasn't pinned to a tree when she met him either.


	4. Give It To Me!

Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

I'm throwing Part 4 out there as well. Maybe it'll help some, or umm… should I be ducking now?

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 4: Give It To Me!

"Well, Kagome," he announced in a much firmer tone, which brought her head up in a snap. "You gonna give me that necklace, or are we going to start where we left off!"

Kagome stared at him wide-eyed, her mouth dropped a bit as she stared at him with disbelief. As she looked upon him now, he looked just as he had the first time she laid eyes on him. His arms were cross in front of him, and he legs spread slightly apart. The only thing different was the lack of anger, yet still his expression was stern making him look every bit the formidable opponent. 

"But… but…" she stammered at a lost for words. "I thought…"

"What?" he sneered wickedly. "You thought that I saved you? HA! Baka! Don't flatter yourself into thinking that I saved you as if it were you that was important! I was saving the necklace! The necklace is what was important! It's that necklace that **I** cared about!"

Kagome's grip tightened upon the necklace and she clutched it to her chest. **_"You made a big mistake, Kagome! Baka doesn't even begin to describe…!" _** her mind screamed, with more affirmation, but even her thoughts were cut off. 

"Hand it over," he ordered extending a hand toward her. "now."

For the first time, Kagome got a good look at his hand, and a small sharp intake escaped her already parted lips. It earned her a wicked sneer and a slight chuckle of which she was oblivious to at the moment. 

The black leather glove, as she noted before, was fingerless, but now she got a closer eye view. It wasn't so much his outstretched hand that caught her attention the most but his fingers or rather the tips of his fingers themselves. Each one sported what looked to be like small pointed-tipped fingernails which gave the appearance of them being more like claws than anything else!

His fingers wiggled as if making another, yet silent, command to gave the item over. 

She took a step back, her eyes returning to his face.

He watched as the sparkling gleam that they had -- even though it had been an uncomfortable one -- disappear and a wild look of renewed alarm entered them. She was like a doe about to be hunted -- and she wasn't far from the truth there. All her sensory nerves were up and running on high.

"I'm getting tired of waiting," he said half impatiently. "Don't think I won't take it from you and even give it a second thought!"

Nervously, Kagome's other foot slid back half a step.

"Don't tell me I'm going to have to chase you down again, dammit! Stupid girl! Don't fool yourself into thinking that I wouldn't have you down in a matter of seconds! My claws can rip through you like it's nothing. Is that what you want?"

As to emphasizing his meaning, he gave his whole hand a stretch and twist, his fingers widened and curled back in slightly, which caused several audible snaps and cracks.

"Just hand it over and you won't have to feel the sting of my claws! Not saying that it would hurt your looks much since you're so ugly anyway!"

"W-Why… why are you doing this? Why are you being so…hateful?"

His lips curled back again in a devilish grin, displaying the points of his canines.

"Feh!" he grunted. "It's a dog eat dog world out there. Or haven't you noticed?" And with that he shoved his face a bit more toward her, his ears tweaked toward each other and away a couple of times. "Give me the damn necklace, NOW, or I'm gonna split you in two!"

Kagome whole being winched at the forcefulness of his words. All she had to do was open her hand and give the piece of jewelry to him. She would be just that much more relieved of the whole situation if she did, and not just because of the moment either. Ever since she got the darn thing, strange things started happening around her. It would be well and good to get rid of it all together, let someone else have the chaos in their life. She wanted hers back to normal.

The bad thing of it was, she couldn't even force herself to reach out her hand and get rid of it. As much as she would have like nothing more to do at that very second, she felt something holding her back, almost making her feel protective of it. 

**__**

"Be more stupid than you already are, Kagome," her mind raced. **_"You kept him from going off to jail where he should have went, and now get yourself killed over something as stupid as a necklace." _**

She took another step away from him wanting to run, and to distract him a bit she said, "D-Don't you think… that m-maybe we could… umm… sit down…" 

KA-THUMP! 

"…and talk about this…." she finished with those last set of words trailing off more quietly.

Kagome stood there, suddenly stupefied, looking at the spot where InuYasha once stood, seeing nothing now except the scatter of trees and bushes in the distance. Then her eyes dropped to the ground. There he was sprawled face down in the dirt as if some invisible hand held him there.

Wider than saucers did her eyes get as she viewed the sight before her. What just happened?

Inuyasha's muscles strained in an attempt to lift himself up. It was slow but the pressure eased and he was able to lift at least his face out of the dirt. Kagome wasn't the only one in a quandary as to what just happened either as a mixture of anger and surprise showed on his face, as he laid there.

"What the hell just happened?" his voice displayed the same confusion, as he gave voice to his thoughts. 

The only thing Kagome could do was stand there in bewildered confusion herself.

"A-are you alright?" she stammered not knowing what else to do or say.

"Am I alright?" His golden eyes turned up to glare at her, his voice harshly exasperated, as he now was able to raise himself up on his arms. "You ask me if _I'm alright_?!" 

He growled angrily, more in frustration of his embarrassment of eating dirt in front of this slip of a girl! He looked around he to see who and where his attacker might be, but all he saw was the raven hair, wide eyed girl in front of him.

"What the hell did you do?!" he demanded as he rose up to his knees. There wasn't anyone else there to blame it on. It had to be her!

"I-I didn't do anything." She denied, retreating with another step even though it didn't seem possible for him to do anything right then. "Maybe i-it was your own clumsy fault."

Did that really come out of her mouth? And the glare of his golden eyes on her was asking the same question.

"All I did was suggest that we sit…."

KA-THUMP!! 

Once again, startled eyed and confused wonderment crossed Kagome's face all the while Inuyasha's was planted forcibly in the dirt. She watched as his body trembled slightly, hearing the low growling sound that he was obviously making. After several moments past, he was able to lift his head. This time his expression didn't have the confusion of embarrassment as it did of pure anger itself.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 4 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Yes, sometimes we all make really stupid choices because of something that we feel within us… And, yes, sometimes it _IS_ the wrong choice, but sometimes even though looks that way it really isn't. *_O


	5. The Power Of A Single Word

Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

I really want to give a big 'THANK YOU' to ALL the people that have written reviews. Your comments really have me excited on continuing to write this story line. I hope that I don't lose track of my writing direction and continue to make (written) sense of what it is that I'm writing. 

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****

Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 5: The Power of A Single Word.

"All I did was suggest that we sit…."

KA-THUMP!! 

Once again, startled eyed and confused wonderment crossed Kagome's face all the while Inuyasha's was planted forcibly in the dirt. She watched as his body trembled slightly, fighting against whatever force was holding him down, and heard the low growling sound that he was obviously making. After several moments past, he was able to lift his head. This time his expression didn't have the confusion of embarrassment as it did of pure anger itself.

"What the hell…?!" he ground out forcibly, struggling again to get up, but whatever control was over him wasn't allowing him no matter how hard he tried. 

It dawned on her. What was she still doing here? Now was the perfect opportunity to escape this… this…-- for lack of a better word --jerk! There wasn't much he could do stuck to the ground as he was, and she'd be able to have a good head start on him before he could get back up.

Whatever the cause of his face-in-the-dirt posture, she was going to take advantage of it. 

"It's been fun, Inuyasha," she quipped lightly. "It's been more excitement than a girl should have for one day. I'm just going…." she took a couple of steps backwards, making a gesture with her thumb to point over her shoulder. "…to go now….."

"Wait," he called out, still grunting from his struggle. "The necklace…."

"This?" She held it up between the pinch of her thumb and finger. "This is mine, and you can't have it." And she promptly replace the piece of jewelry around her neck, despite the broken clasp, and tied the ends together instead.

She stood there for only a second or two, displaying the shiny bluish-pink orb against the green collar of her white school shirt, before she turned away and started to run across the grass. She sprinted quickly across the field, but it wasn't with the same terror filled pace that she had been in before.

"Wench!" He shouted at her retreating back, then grumbled to himself out loud, "When I get my hands on you….!"

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Kagome neared the end of commons expanse; she had stopped running just a short ways back. Several times had she spun around during her 'escape' to ensure that she wasn't being followed again. Each time she turned back around, her thoughts returned to the jumbled mess of questions and memories of the past hour. What, on God's green earth, was going on?!

Wasn't her life spinning crazily out of control as it was with all the strange mishaps and near accidents happening around her? And now not one but _two_ guys had just tried to accost her. Surely the glistening gemstone necklace wasn't the cause of it all! It would have to be cursed or something! Yet, wasn't it the very item that the two had been after?

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," she said aloud, shaking her head and waving her arms in front of her as if to erase the thought. "That is _such_ a ridiculous idea!"

"Talk to yourself much?"

Kagome gasped, jumping back with a half twist at the unexpected yet familiar male voice.

There he stood, leaning a shoulder against the trunk of the tree, arms crossed in front of his chest, and one leg bent and crossed over the other one that was straightly braced, with the toe of his shoe propping his foot up. It was the dog-guy that she had left a while back eating dirt! How did he manage to get here ahead of her?

Turning her head, she glanced in the direction she had came from. There was no way! No way! Then she turned her eyes back upon the face of the person that stood not far from her.

"Whatever you're thinking can't be anymore ridiculous than the way you look," he insulted her. 

"H-how…."

"Stupid wench! I'm not letting you get away from me until I get that jewel…." He shoved away from the tree and took a step toward her, his golden eyes filled with determination of having only one purpose.

Kagome went to step back, but in her haste her foot struck something and, instead of being balanced upon the firm ground, she stumbled and found herself falling backwards until she landed with a jarring thud on her bottom.

She heard the low rumble of laughter, as InuYasha stopped his advance on her and stood there taking in the sight of her disheveled state of pose. Her arms were outstretched behind her, supporting the upper part of her body, and her legs were spread apart with knees bent slightly. Her skirt shifted upwards to display a bit more of her upper thigh, but at least it fell in a position that he couldn't see up it. 

"You're not very graceful, are you?" he smirked, watching as her startled surprised turned to flustered embarrassment. 

"I don't see what's so funny about it!" she remarked defensively over his laughter.

"Well, look at you," he made a jester with his open hand. "Look at the stupid looking outfit you have on, for one. And for another, you can't even walk without falling down! Let's not forget to mention that you're ugly and really stupid to be going around wearing that jewel around your neck like there's nothing in the world to harm you!"

"You're not a very nice person, you know!" she flung her own remark at him, recomposing her physical position to once again standing up. Her hands brushed at the dirt that hand gotten on her and even places there were none.

"So?" he said in a voice that wasn't the lest bit concerned of how she thought of him.

Kagome didn't raise her head. Only her eyes lifted up at him. He was just standing there, this time his arms just dangled along the sides of him. His feet were planted just apart from each other in a balanced stance. The bangs of his hair fell over his forehead almost to the point of it being in his eyes, but he didn't brush them away. 

Her gaze went on up to the top of his head where his ears were. She thought that she had seen them move before, but doubted her perception at the moment. They couldn't really possibly be… and then she didn't have to doubt anymore because, to her amazement, she saw them twitch and move again. 

Her gaze never left him as she finally raised her head, her lips slightly parted. 

"What are you looking at?" InuYasha's frowned, brows narrowed.

"Your…ears," she murmured in awe. "They are real."

He gave a curt snort. "You just blow me away with your intelligence."

More and more, Kagome's fear gave way to indignation. How dare he? He didn't know her! He didn't know anything about her! And she wasn't stupid either! She made very good grades in school!

"Why are you so rude? And why do you want my necklace so badly?"

"The first is none of your business," he retorted sharply. "And as for the necklace, well… that's really none of your business either." 

"Fine," she shot back, then took a step in the direction to leave.

"Don't think you're going anywhere." he said in a low voice, as he too took a step as she had. "Not until you hand over that….."

"What?" she cut him off with a bit of fury of her own, turning on him. "Necklace?" 

Maybe she wasn't that smart after all, for in her own upset she marched right up to the silver hair ruffian, standing no more than a foot away from him. She had to tilt her head back to look him square in the face, and her hands rested meaningfully upon her hips. 

"Listen here, this necklace is mine, not yours, and you're not taking it! It was a present given to me for my birthday! And if you think you're just going to take it from me, then you better think again!"

InuYasha just stared down at her with a sort of blank expression on his face for the moment.

"I am not in the mood for anymore of this!" She continued heatedly. "I've been chased, not by one but two thugs today! You being one of them! I've been threaten! I've fell, been knocked down, my necklace torn from my neck! I've got scrapes and bruises all over me! I've been laughed at and insulted! My uniform is messed up and on top of all that I've had a darn hard day at school!"

She took a moment to take a breath, her brown eyes flashing along with her temper. 

"And if you _think_ that I'm just going to hand this necklace over to a rude, obnoxious dog boy, you can just think again!"

She stepped past him, fuming in a huff as she continued to walk away from him. "And don't follow me anymore or _I'll_ call the police to come get you again! Then you can sit in jail…."

KA-WHUMP!!

She barely heard the outburst of a yell before the crushing sound of a body being slammed upon the ground. 

"…for…a…while…" she finished saying in a more hushed tone, drawing out each word, while turning her head around to see what had happened. When she saw InuYasha's form face down on the ground again, she halted her steps. She heard muffled curses, then a growl before finally his white head lifted up.

"How the hell…?!" he looked at her with glowering eyes.

Kagome just stood there with her mouth open, thinking the same thing that he dared to speak out loud. 

She watched as, slowly, he managed to raise himself up to his knees, trying to think of all the times that this strange episode happened. The first time she remembered she suggested that they'd sit down to talk, well not really to talk as much as trying to buy time for herself, but all the same she had said the word 'sit'. The second time was shortly after he'd gotten up when he was blaming her for doing it to him, and in return she denied it admitting the only thing she had done was suggest they 'sit'. And now, this time, the third time. She was walking away telling him to leave her alone or she'd call the police and he could 'sit' in jail.

"Is that it?" she murmured softly to herself. "All I have to do is say 'sit'?" 

Her words weren't loud, and they weren't meant to be heard by any other, but nonetheless the next instant she saw the white head being forcible slammed back down onto the ground, a startled yell ended nearly as soon as it started as it was cut off with the impact of his face meeting the ground.

Kagome couldn't help the flinch of her own body. "Ouch." she said quietly, raising her eyebrows.

"Will you cut that out!" His voice yelled once he was able to lift his face off of the ground again. 

Perplexed at the outcome of this new knowledge, Kagome gingerly walked back to the fallen guy. He was once again struggling to right himself when she came to a halt in front of him, then squatted down upon her knees to look at him eye to eye. The disbelieving look on his face was almost hysterical. 

She looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds, then innocently said, "Sit."

She saw the necklace that was around it neck glow with a muted light just a split second before he was force into the dirt once more, a howl ripping from his throat.

So, that _was_ it! Humph, she made a sound of amazed disbelief and got up. Again she could hear the muffled grumblings coming from him as she walked away from him. 

"You…_bitch_!" he yelled as soon as his head came up, putting emphasis upon the last word. 

"Sit." 

THUD! She didn't stop walking even when she heard the impact, nor did she turn again to see what had happened. She already had a good idea. 

She walked out of the park grounds and back onto the sidewalk which lead to her home a couple of blocks away. 

Kagome had gone about a half a block, yet even at that distance she still was able to hear him cursing loudly. '**_He really must be mad.' _**

"Sit." she said just a level louder than her normal voice, wondering if it would work this far. Her question was answered immediately upon hearing another ripping scream just seconds before being silenced.

The corners of her mouth twitched until they curled upward in an elated, twisted smile. Yeap, it worked alright. 

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 5 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	6. What's In A Collar?

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

If you haven't figured it out already, the bold print words are what people are saying to themselves in their heads.

Thanks for the wonderful reviews you've given me so far. Hope this will continue your interest.

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****

Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 6: What's In A Collar?

The rhythmic, insistent drumming of nails upon the wooden desktop was an indication of the irritation the person felt. They sat there in the hard wooden chair next to the desk piled with papers and scattered writing utensils, stapler, tape dispenser, a telephone and a couple of small pictures in silver square frames. One had the image of two girls, one a teenager and the other just a small child. Both had smiles on their faces, but the older of the two had a distant sadness in her doe-like brown eyes that even the curve of her lips couldn't hide. The second picture was one of only the older girl and she had the same like expression upon her face as there was in the previous picture. Still, despite the sadness, it couldn't distract from her beauty. A beauty that was both in gentleness and spirit.

Heat prickled at the back of the golden eyes, forcing them to look away. He did not want to be pulled into the sadness himself right now. He did not want to think about _her_. 

His glance went to the clock on the wall and his ire started fuming once more. A soft growl escaped his throat just as the door opened and a short, stocky woman who was reaching up in years walked in.

"What are you doing here, InuYasha," she said as she moved to the other side of the desk to sit down. "Don't tell me you're in trouble again."

The younger man jumped up, slapping his palms down upon the desk as he faced the older woman who now sat behind it. His claws making little furrows upon the surface. 

"I want to know what the hell is going on!" he snapped.

"Going on?" she gazed at him with an unrevealing expression of whether she knew what he was talking about or not.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you old…"

"Mind yourself, InuYasha," she ordered, cutting him off. "Or you might be finding yourself in a place you don't want to be."

He was already in more places he didn't want to be in, but kept the remark to himself. Pressing his lips together tightly, he pushed away from the desk in an angry pout. Turning his face away, he crossed his arms together.

"I want to know what this cursed thing is that you put around my neck."

The chair creaked as she sat back in it with a thoughtful look on her face. "Why do you ask?"

He faced her again, anger illuminating his features. "Because every damn time that girl says the word 'sit', it starts to glow and I feel a pull, then the next thing I know I'm eating a face full of dirt, that's why!"

The woman chuckled softly, but not in a way that it was meant to be in spite.

"I don't see what's so funny about it!" He grabbed the beads for about the hundredth time, trying again to pull them over his head. "And I can't get the damn thing off!!"

"You cannot take them off, InuYasha. Not now."

"What the hell are they?!"

"They are incantation prayer beads."

InuYasha fumed silently, feeling like a fool at allowing himself to be trapped so easily. **_'BAKA!'_** He silently cursed himself, remembering the day when she had given him the necklace. He had been in trouble time after time, and old baba had always been there either to put him away or to escort him out. The beaded claw necklace had been a 'gift' from her one day after he was released from a two night stay in jail. He had been more than ready to get out of there, the pungent smells making him -- (excuse the pun) -- sick as a dog.

When she had given it to him, he had acted as if it meant nothing much to him, but still he took it and had worn it every since anyway. It had looked rather 'cool' with the claws on it as such. Now,… now he really felt a fool at thinking the gift was anything other than a control measure, one he was so smoothly tricked into. He wanted nothing more than to rip the cursed thing off and throw it as far away as possible. Dammit, he should have known better!

He grabbed them again, trying to tear it apart, but the beads glowed a muted blue light and refused to break. 

"I can assume that the girl that unlocked the power to the beads was the girl from this afternoon?"

Giving up, he growled, "Yes!" more angry at himself for not sensing there was ever any power to them, but he more than realized it now.

"Does the girl know…."

"Of course she does," he ranted, cutting her off. "Having my head slammed into the ground seven times today was indication enough…"

"…about the jewel?" she continued what she was going to say in the first place. "About the necklace she carries?"

"Of course not. _ 'It was a present given to me for my birthday!'_" he mimicked her words in a high pitch tone, scrunching his face up and rolling his eyes upward. "Feh! She's a stupid girl that knows nothing about what she has! She wears it around her neck like it's just some pretty trinket! She has no idea…! She has no use for it!"

"There are going to be many dangers now that it's resurfaced," the older woman said in a quiet voice. "Much evil will be after her to claim what you did not succeed in obtaining."

"Well, I could have spared her all that if she'd given me the damn thing!" he mumbled. "What do I care what happens to her? Whatever happens is her own fault!" **_'All I care about is the jewel,'_ **he added silently to himself.

He heard the deep sigh of resign and then the creak of the chair as she shifted in it.

"Do you know her name?"

InuYasha gave a rude snort but didn't say anything. 

"InuYasha…"

"It's the name of a stupid kid's game. Kagome. OK!"

"Kagome, what?"

"How should I know? You expect me to remember something about a stupid girl of no importance to me?"

A silence fell between the two.

Hands curled into a fist, until he felt the sting of the self inflicted wounds from his claws. Gritting his teeth together, he pulled back his lips baring his fanged canines. "Higurashi." he snarled quietly between them.

Again the room fell into a brief hush. 

After several moments, InuYasha's ears lowered to lay close to his head, his mood wasn't improving any staying here. He had other things to do, such as coming up with a plan to get that necklace from that girl and possibly getting rid of the 'collar' around his neck. That girl didn't know what she had, but it didn't matter. He wanted it. He needed it, and he was determined to get it. Period. All he cared about in life was to finally become a full fledged demon and he could stop this life of not belonging to either.

"I'm leaving," he said. "I can't stand the revolting smell of this place." And he went to the door. Just as his hand turned the knob to open it, the woman behind the desk called out to him.

"Where are you staying, InuYasha?"

"As if I'd tell you, Kaede!" and he went out the door without another word.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 6 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

How's the story and my writing? Reviews? 


	7. Hate, Memories, and Following A Scent

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

The bold print words are what people are saying to themselves in their heads.

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****

Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 7: Hate, Memories, and Following A Scent

It was something that he normally would not do. The only reason he did it now was to avoid any confrontation inside the building. Even though most knew who he was, what he was, not all of them did and the lest inconspicuous he was among them the better. He stood out quite enough as if was. 

It was a strain to do and it hurt, but if he kept his ears low enough he could almost make them seem to disappear by shifting some of his hair over to cover them. It would only be for a short time; he could bare it for that long. 

He hated being different. He wasn't accepted by either humans or demons. Neither side wanted his kind, his half of a breed. Humans feared his wilder, stronger demon half, and, if they weren't cowering, then their fear usually germinated into hate. Demons despised his human side because they saw it as a weakness -- emotionally and physically. There was no room for weakness: it wasn't something they tolerated. Weakness in demons always fell away to death. 

He was neither one or the other. Lacking in both. Never measuring up or belonging. 

He learned long ago to live with the fear, the hate, but now wasn't the time to push anything that would lead to conflict,…not at a police station. He had given them enough problems in the past, which was something humans didn't forget easily… or lightly.

He hated the irate feeling that welded up inside him as he passed by one human after another. Every one of them would be willing and ready to subdue him by any means possible. 

He hated the stinking scent of fear that would emanate from them once they discovered he was something _other_ than what they were. He hated the pungent smell of their hate. 

He hated having to run. He hated having to hide. He hated having to fight just to escape them. It was something he had been doing nearly all of his life… and it was all just because he was different. And he would probably be doing that the rest of his life unless he could get that necklace! Once he got that, things would change! Oh, how they would change! He wouldn't be an outcast anymore. He wouldn't be weak. He would have a place to be accepted.

Once outside, InuYasha didn't care who was around or who saw him. His ears flicked up through his white mane of hair, and he shook his head to clear it away. 

He took a series of running steps then leaped into the air, disappearing quickly in a succession of bounds through the concrete forest of the city.

****

» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» 

As soon as the door closed, Kaede glanced over at the silver picture frames that was upon her desk. Reaching out, she picked one of them up and sat there staring at the picture of the two children that was in it. 

It was a picture taken long ago, nearly a lifetime. Times were hard, but they were together, and that's what mattered most to the little one. She followed her sister everywhere, sometimes much to the dismay of the older sibling. She had wanted her to be safe, to be a child, but the younger girl just wanted to be like her and tried to watch and learn all that she could. 

Beauty. Grace. Caring. Responsibility. Those were her qualities. And she manifested them to such a level that it seemed like she could do things beyond what others could do. Yes, the little girl wanted to be so much like her sister.

It was…difficult to say the least, when that tragic day struck and her sister was viciously ripped away from her. Not only did the young girl have to deal with the heartache of the loss, but her sister's position fell upon her also and that alone was a heavy responsibility. Even with her own abilities, it was a struggle, for she was nowhere near what her sister had been. And she wasn't as pure of heart… anymore.

With a heavy sigh, she placed the picture back upon the desk, still feeling the loss that even the passage of time had not completely healed. 

She glanced over to the other picture beside it, and as she stared at the girl's unblemished features, the image of another young girl drifted into her mind. 

Her one, uncovered eye grew wide, and she again leaned fully back into her chair, speechless. Had it been so long? Had the pain of her sister's memory caused her to put her image so far back in her mind that she missed the similarity when she was face to face with the girl? After all the child did possess the Shikon no tama, and that dog demon, InuYasha, she had no doubt, had been after her because of it. After all these years, not truly expecting a day such as this would even come around, this girl even activated the beads which now subjugated the hanyou. Could it be possible that she….?

Kaede, rose up out of the chair. She was going to have to find this young lady. She was going to have to see her again to know for sure. She needed to talk with her and tell her a few certain things. It would mean a world between life or death.

» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» 

The air whipped around him, making his hair slap against his back as he flung himself through the sky time after time, bounding from one landing perch to the next. Racing for the want of putting as much distance between himself and everything else. Racing just for the sheer speed. He wasn't expecting to catch wind of a familiar scent.

Dropping down to the ground, InuYasha crouched. He sniffed at the air and the ground, sorting out and discarding all other scents accept the one. Rising up, he followed it until he came to an open gate which lead to a courtyard of a shrine.

The lateness of the night bothered him little as he entered upon the grounds, taking the stairs that lead to the upper landing several at a time. He kept sniffing, and saw a house further in the distance with lights shining through several of the windows. Quietly, he followed the scent to where it was the strongest -- the back of the house itself, and it was drifting down from the second floor window which was open. 

Quickly surveying the area, InuYasha noted a tree nearby that would give him the view that he wanted, and with a effortless spring, he was in the branches within a matter of seconds. He positioned himself, silently, like a predatory animal, to watch his quarry.

That scent had lead him to her, and she was in there -- the little wrench that had planted his face in the ground more times than he cared to remember. She had changed her clothing from the green and white sailor outfit to a pair of sleeping pajama's that consisted of a power blue button up shirt and matching pants. Fluffy white clouds, trimmed in silver were scattered over the material. 

She looked so damn familiar, but who the hell was she really? 

He tested the air again. No, it couldn't be her. The scents weren't the same. This girl smelled of a mixture of cherry blossoms, wild berries and vanilla, which he noticed earlier hadn't been completely masked even over her fright. 

The hanyou watched as the dark haired girl toyed with her hair, running a brush through it several times. Then the subject of his thoughts were dismissed as he saw her take the necklace off and lay it down on top of the dresser. She moved to the bed and got in, pulling the covers up around her. Reaching a hand out, she snapped off the light that was on a stand next to the bed before she rolled over to her side and snuggled down into the blanket.

The corners of his mouth curved upward in a grin. The window was still open.

**_'That's it.' _**he murmured silently as if trying to lull the unsuspecting girl with his thoughts. **_'Close your eyes. Go to sleep like a good little girl. You won't have to worry about anything else happening after tonight.'_**

He wouldn't have thought that it was possible to ever feel again such an overwhelming surge of joy rush through him, but InuYasha did. He couldn't believe it! It was right there within his reach. Even his hands tingled! All he had to do was be patient and wait a little while longer; then it would be his! 

Ha! Old Kaede thought she was so smart collaring him with those damned beads, and this little wrench… well… she was just nuisance… one that he would be more than glad to be rid of.

**_'Go to sleep.'_** his head hummed rhythmically. **_'Close your eyes.'_**

It wasn't long that there was a rustling sound heard, which caused his ears to tweak. He held his breath, watching. Even through the darkness, he could see as the girl shifted and rolled back out of bed. She moved over to the open window and looked out. Her dark hair falling over her shoulders as she leaned a bit over the sill, moving her head from one side to the other. Then she looked up, and he froze for her eyes were directed straight toward him. She stared for several seconds before lifting her gaze upward toward the roof. Good, she hadn't seen him after all. InuYasha smile was almost a wicked sneer as he elated in her diminished abilities of being human. She didn't have the sight that he did to distinguish shapes within the shadows. Then…

**__**

'NO!!' 

She pushed the window shut and locked it.

» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» .» 

Behind the house, unnoticed, a white haired dog demon paced back and forth the length of the house. He fumed at the disruption of his plan. It would have been so easy, and things could have been different already. But they weren't, and it wasn't, and all he had now was the same as before…nothing! It seemed like this girl unwittingly thwarted his every plan of getting the jewel, and that even made him more upset. 

Of course he could always resort to just crashing in there and taking the damn thing. Maybe she would be too startled from the commotion to realize it was him. Perhaps she wouldn't even realize what the intentions of the assailant were until it was far too late to do anything about it. 

He really had a half a mind to do that, but then he thought, 'what if she did?' She'd have his face planted so deep into the floorboards he might even go through the lower room floor too. And he didn't relish that idea. Even though her 'sits' didn't cause physical harm him, they still felt like he was getting the sense knocked out of him.

"Dammit!" he growled, after about an hour of pacing. He was going to have to figure out some other way to get that necklace because he wasn't going to get it this night. 

With a strong push of his legs, InuYasha darted straight into the air. He came down many yards away in the courtyard only to repeat the action again. 

Yeah, he'd be back. He'd be back and would get what was his.

Then the swift and silent figure disappeared into the night, leaving behind the girl and the jeweled necklace.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 7 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

This was the hardest chapter in the story line to write (so far *_*). It felt like the 'dark' chapter of the story -- (not as dark as some other stories I've read, but for this story, yes), -- and because of it I'm having to redo a bit in the next future chapters. This wasn't a part of the story line to start off. It just kind of dropped on me the other night because I felt like something like this was needed to be added to give them a bit more 'substance'. I don't know if I did something right with this or not.

I hope that you liked it anyway. I appreciate your comments and thoughts on it, so please review me. Your reviews are what keep me wanting to continue to post. Thanks.

Thank You to: CANADIAN chicky- of doomness! Chronicles Bailey, Crissy-chan, Bladeofthedragons, Kia Minokoe, Kikitravel, Lunatic Pandoral, Miko Goddess Usiri, Ryngr15, Squeakers, and Twil for reading and taking time to make reviews on previous chapters. ^_^ 


	8. Second Meeting: The Wait

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

Note: Sorry, but I did some revising 'after' I'd already posted this chapter. I hope that anyone that's read this story already will read again to note the changes. Sorry about this, I was just so tired last night that I wasn't as alert at proofing. This time I feel that it's a bit more acceptable. Hope you do too. 

Re-announcing that this is my first fanfic story, EVER that I've shared with anyone and have allowed. Appreciate the reviews.

The '**bold, _Italic'_** print words are what people are saying silently to themselves in. The _Italic_ print words are stressing that particular word in the sentence.

Am I forgetting anything to make note of?

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 8: Second Meeting: The Wait

It had been three days. Three days that he watched her: following her from above the tree tops, above the roof tops, staying out of sight. Already he had slayed two demons that had unwittingly picked up the jewel's essence. He could sensed that there were others about, but none were of any alarm…yet. And he had no doubt that more would come, would be drawn to it. Bigger. More dangerous. 

And she didn't even have a clue to any of it. Not his presence. Not theirs. 

He didn't doubt that Keade had at least told her _some_ things concerning that necklace…and him. But what and how much was the question. He knew that she had to have recognize the jewel in the girl's hand that day, if not the similarities between her and…

He just shook his head to rid himself of that thought. 

Yeah, surely the old woman would have 'enlightened' the girl as much as she could. She of _all_ people would be the only one to really be able to do that. 

Maybe that was why the girl walked around in a sort of stupor. Aware, yet unaware. Looking, but not seeing. Or maybe it had been the events which happened. Too much to handle. At any rate, she was such easy prey. 

With this damn collar on, he knew he wasn't going to get very far at taking the necklace outright from her, but he wasn't going to let anything else lay claim to it either. Until he was able to get it himself he would… well, he would just have to keep the girl safe. 

For three days he had watched over her, doing just that.

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Kagome walked behind her three friends while heading home from school. She had spent the last few of days in a clouded fog because of the recent events that had happened in her life. Consequently, it had gotten her a few embarrassing reprimands from the teachers for her lack of concentration. 

Even though that police officer, the older woman…… What was her name? -- Keade something or other? -- had came by the house that very next day, Kagome still wasn't sure if it had all been just a dream. Surely, it couldn't be true about the things that she had told her! And yet, still, the circle of people and events she had started drawing toward her of recent months kept nagging at the back of her mind. She had already thought things were a bit more unusual since the necklace came into her possession, so why was she finding it so hard to accept any of the rest?

**__**

'Well, you'd have to accept that there is a real demon after you, for one,' she mentally told herself. **_'And that some old woman wants you to believe that you're some kind of reincarnation of her dead sister. And that the gemstone you have has some kind of mystical power to it that you - of all people - are entrusted with."_**

"Hello-o? Earth to Kagome," her friend Yuki's voice broke through her distracted thoughts. 

"W-What?"

"What's with you? You've been in a fog for the last few days. What gives?"

"N-nothing gives."

"It's a boy." Ayumi chimed in.

"What's a boy?" Kagome asked still dumbfounded at trying to figure out the conversation.

"The reason you've got your head in the clouds lately."

"It is not!"

"Then what's the reason?" The third one piped in.

"It's… It's…" **_'Well,'_** she thought, **_'what _can_ you say?'_** "It's just… that I've a lot on my mind."

Yuki rolled her eyes up. "Of course there's a lot on your mind! We're just trying to figure out what it is since you haven't told us anything as to _what_ it is."

"Oh,… I-It's nothing. Just… contemplating life."

"Oh, God!" her other friend exclaimed. "Kagome's brain has finally cracked from too much school, not enough boys."

"I still say it's a boy." Ayumi replied again.

"I… That's…not…" **_'Better off just keeping your mouth shut.'_**

"We still going to the mall this weekend?" Eri asked.

"I am."

"Me, too." 

Silence.

"Uh, Kagome?" Yuki asked when she failed to respond.

"Umm?"

Rolling her eyes a second time, she repeated the question. "Are you still going to the mall this weekend?"

"Yeah. Sure, I'll be there." 

The four of them -- or at least three of them did -- carried on their conversation as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. They badgered Kagome, trying to get her to answer more of their questions, but they finally gave up since you can't get blood out of a stone.

As they got closer to the secondary entrance of the park, Kagome said, "I'm going to go this way, guys."

"Ok. Sure. Fine." Her friends answered, but didn't push as to why she was taking the scenic way home as of late.

"See you tomorrow." 

There was a brief farewell from her friends as they parted directions.

Kagome turned from the walkway into the commons, and nearly jumped out of her skin when InuYasha immediately appeared before her. She cried out in alarm and found herself starting to fall backward: her backpack unbalancing her weight and was helping to pull her to the ground. The next instant, instead of a jarring thud she expected, she felt herself caught in a strong grasp which prevented her from hitting the hard ground. 

When she dared to open her eyes, she saw InuYasha standing there with one hand on her arm and the other about her waist. For a couple of seconds they remained standing there like that. She blinked in disbelief, looking into his gold color eyes that were so close to her face at the moment, then she felt a pull as he righted her once more to her feet. He then released her and stepped away.

"Arigato, InuYasha," she thanked him for saving her as she straighten her uniform, but he didn't say anything in return. He just stood there as if waiting for something. "You scared the life out of me. What are you doing here?" 

"Waiting for you," he simply said.

"Me?" There was surprise was in her voice, but then she remembered the reason for their past encounter. Subconsciously, her hand went to her chest feeling the round gem that laid between her breast through the material of her shirt. 

"W-Why?" she questioned, even though she knew the answer already. After all, she _did_ have her necklace on today. 

"There's a lot of bad things that could happen on your way home."

**__**

'You being one of them,' she thought silently to herself. 

"Umm… I… I'm suppose to _wait_ for a friend of mine…" and as an afterthought, she added, "_here_." 

Maybe he would decide to leave if he thought there was another person with her, or maybe he would just get tired of waiting and go away. 

Her eyes went to the necklace that he wore. She remembered the police lady had said something about it having some kind of enchantment power to it. That it was the only thing allowing InuYasha to be able to get close without worrying -- much -- about him taking her necklace. Something about subjugating his soul or other. Beyond that she lost track of the rest because it all was so overwhelming to believe, let alone remember all of it. All she really understood was that when she said 'sit' he did a face plant.

Still, even with that knowledge, Kagome didn't want to test things further. One chase was enough, and she had already taken too many dangerous chances with this guy already.

InuYasha stared at her. **_'She didn't seem like she was about to wait for anyone.'_** Then, with impatience, he grumbled, "Fine. We'll wait, then."

"Ok." **_'Great! Now what?'_**

They waited. 

Kagome looking pensively outward toward the street, her hands gripping the front straps of her backpack. Even if he hadn't been able to smell the agitation on her, anyone could have seen it by the way she fidgeted about, snapping her knee back and forth at a hurried pace.

InuYasha just sat down cross-legged next to the nearest tree, and folded his arms across his chest.

And they waited.

And still they waited a bit more, until finally InuYasha couldn't stand it any longer.

"They're not coming," he griped, shifting himself up to a standing position and started to move closer to her.

"It won't be much longer," she tried to buy a little more time, but he wasn't going to allow it.

"Feh! We've waited here forever already. They're not coming, and if they do and you're not here, it's they're own damn fault for being late!" He didn't permit her time to argue the point further as he grabbed her wrist, gave a pull, and dragging her into the park. "Come on."

"InuYasha! Let go!" she ordered, trying to dig her feet into the ground, struggling with him to stop. Only after he had pulled her a few yards did he do as she said, and as soon as he released her, she exclaimed, "You seriously think I'm going to walk anywhere with you?! You think I don't know what you're up to?!" 

Regaining her bearing, Kagome imitated what she had seen him do on occasion, she crossed her arms in front of her heaving breasts. Then she tapped her foot upon the ground in annoyance. "I don't feel like doing another marathon today, and I don't relish loosing my school books either!"

An angry look came across his face, then he turned away to present his back to her, taking his usual stance.

"I'm just making sure that the necklace stays safe."

"As if I don't know what your _real_ intentions are," she accused. "You get me deep enough into the park, where there's no one around…"

"No." he interrupted sharply.

There was a pause of silence, then he heard her say, "Ri-i-ight. Not like you wasn't going to try and take it before."

**_'The past always comes back to haunt you,' _** the words taunted him at the back of his mind. "Listen," he turned quickly, showing nothing less than his aggravation. "You want to get home safe or not? Go ahead and walk on alone if that's what you want, I don't care! I'm tired of waiting!" 

"I didn't ask you to come and wait in the first place!" she snapped back.

If one could make a face look even more infuriated, Kagome had succeeded for InuYasha's scowl deepened. "Fine then." he replied angrily. "Just go by yourself! Don't come yelling for me when you get into trouble!" 

In one springing leap, he jumped high into the air. 

Kagome watched with an open mouth, as he went into the treetops and disappeared.

"No way," she murmured. "How…?" 

After a few moments of staring into the empty air, Kagome brought her gaze back down to earth; closing her mouth as she now realized it had dropped open. She glanced around, but nobody was there. It was strange that she felt that much alone.

She released a heavy sigh, but wasn't sure whether it was of relief or something else.

Kagome looked over her shoulder beyond the entrance way that she had came through to the sidewalk path on the other side of it. She had avoided taking that way home over the recent weeks, and now she didn't feel comfortable about going this way alone either. With another arduous sigh, she resigned herself to walk the former way home… around through the city. She didn't especially like the prospect of doing that, but at least there would be more chance of people being around. 

A sharp shiver ran over her entire body as if to throw off the thought of another danger. The possibility of running into any part that new gang that decided to set itself up in the area. No, it wasn't coincidental that she etched out a new route home just soon after they appeared. It didn't completely take her out of their 'territory' but at least it had for a good bit of it.

"Which is worse? The demon or…," she started to say, but somehow didn't quite know how to finish it. She was never one to come up with those cliché' quotes of her own. 

With a pivot of her feet, Kagome turned and headed out of the park grounds. 

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Excuse if I didn't get her friends name right. 

Special Note To: Lunatic Pandoral: Appreciate your reviews. Let's me know that the story gets read by a repetitive viewer. To comment on your last review: I think the title kind of had that kind of meaning. Same Thing, Different Time. (even though it's not exactly the same)

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	9. Should Have Stayed With You

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything. 

Okay, I did it again. *_* Due to a comment, I decided to revise this chapter a bit, and you will find that it has a more lengthier reading. I knew that I wasn't really finished with this part, and I was going to make it into two because I wasn't quite finished with the rest of it, but… _ahem…_decided to make a re-do since the title encompassed both, and I didn't want to do a Part 1, Part 2 title.

Sweetdaeth, you were right. Hope this makes you happier.

The '**bold, _Italic'_** print words are what people are saying silently to themselves in. The _Italic_ print words are stressing that particular word in the sentence.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 9: Should Have Stayed With You

"Damn, stupid girl! Stupid, damn girl," InuYasha grumbled as he gritted his teeth. _"I didn't ask you to come and wait,"_ Once again he found himself mimicking words she said to him in a higher toned voice, and then in his own, "Feh! As if I need to ask her to do anything!"

The wind blew across his body as he jumped from one building over to the other. His landings were made with a silent grace that no mere human could ever think to possess.

He peered over the edge and watched as the dark head of one particular person walked through the mill of people. He watched as they moved their head from side to side, every now and again as they continued their way through the bustle of the city. 

InuYasha moved down the length of the roof until he got to the end. She went on past. 

"Damn girl," he grumbled again and took another leap to land upon the next building. This was such a nuisance!

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Kagome felt a warm burning sensation as if she was being watched every since she crossed over into the city district. She glanced around her from time to time, but didn't see anyone in particular staring or following her. She even glanced up to skim the skyline, but there wasn't anything there either. Not even a sign of that InuYasha.

Eventually, Kagome made a turn, which took her out of the main part of the city. It was a bit more quieter, a bit more relaxed, and it made her a lot more conscious that she was alone.

She had gone nearly two blocks when a car passed by, but not before the windows had been rolled down and shouts and whistles directed toward her were heard. 

Red faced, Kagome just ignored the ruckus they were making and continued walking.

"Perverts." she murmured uncomfortably at their crudeness, just a moment before she heard the sharp screech of breaks and a door opening. 

"Hey, pretty baby, wanna ride?"

Turning her head, she glanced over her shoulder, and saw that the passenger of the vehicle had gotten out and was leaning over the roof. The dark gray vest he sported over a once white tee-shirt and the head band was indication enough that he belonged to that new gang, 'the Wolves', but known more as the 'Wolf Pack'.

Yes, this was her lucky day! The thought crossed her mind regretfully. 

"N-No thanks." she replied nervously, not stopping her stride.

"Awww, come on, baby, don't be like that. Hey," he shouted as she ignored him and just kept walking. 

"Hey," she heard him again. "What? Think you're too good to be with us?"

There was the sound of another door opening and then the shuffle of footsteps. Without looking back, Kagome hastened her stride, but the footsteps behind her did the same. A wave of apprehension coursed through her and she picked up her gait. When she heard the pats of their feet coming closer, she took off at a full run with those very same words echoing in her head. **'_Run. Run!'_**

As fast as she could, her feet carried her down the path of the walkway, but her backpack was slowing her down and she could hear the footsteps getting nearer. Back in the distance, she hear the whine of the vehicle as it started to back itself toward them on the street.

Kagome gave a anxious glance over her shoulder, and to her horror they were almost on her, three of them. Her hands worked frantically to get the straps to slide off her shoulders, knowing that if she could just get rid of the weight she would be able to go that much faster. 

She was still struggling with the cumbersome thing when a forceful jerk violently took her back a step. One of them had caught a hold of her backpack.

Kagome's fright and her momentum had her struggling forward, and her arms slipped free of the straps. But her freedom was short lived as she felt her hair painfully captured in their grasp. Immediately, her own hands reached up to ward off the assailant which had her hair, wincing from the pain. She cried out, feeling herself jerked backwards until she came up against the unyielding body of her attacker. Frantically, Kagome struggled, trying to free herself from their hold as an arm came around her chest. 

"Think you're too good…" she heard against her ear just before she felt herself twisted and propelled off to the side. A gasping cry escaped her as she stumbled and fell to the ground. 

She felt the harsh sting on her knee as it struck the pavement reopening her previous injury and tearing the flesh a bit more, then her shoulder struck the pavement as she tumbled over, and finally came to an abrupt stop as she collided with the hard side of the metal dumpster.

Everything seem to stop for a second or two as a bright light went off inside her head: the impact of the dumpster against her forehead knocked her senses out of kilter. Then, there was only the pain. Pain in her knee, pain of her shoulder, and the pain in her head.

Still, the force of the impact sent her reeling back again and it was just instinctive that she throw her arms and hands out to catch herself from ending up completely on the ground. 

Kagome could only sit there, supporting herself back on her hands, looking up at them in a daze. The three, seeming not to be much older than herself, approached her, their leering smiles and snickers told her just what kind of intentions they had.

"Kagome, Kagome, time for you to come out and play…" one of them chanted, changing the words a bit from the child's game song. He knew her name, but she couldn't recognize by sight or sound who it was.

"Leave me alone," she yelled at them, backing away the little bit that she could as they came to stand around where she was.

"Aww, little school girl don't want to play?" The voice chimed again mocking her fear.

Of a sudden, he crouched down, a cruel smile twisting his face. "Maybe I want to…" came his words and reached out and grabbed her by the ankle. She felt herself pulled across the surface of the pavement and tiny grains bit into the back of her upper leg. 

Kagome closed her eyes and screamed, kicking at her assailant with her other foot, trying to sink her fingers into the asphalt surface to keep from being dragged more.

The next instant she was free. There was a loud muffled sound as if someone punched a very firm pillow which was followed by a heavy thud accompanied with a groan. Just when she dared to open her eyes to see what was happening, she heard:

"She said to leave her alone!"

That voice! 

Her eyes popped open wide, as her lips parted in stunned, and somewhat grateful, surprise. 

There stood InuYasha between her and the thugs, having already decommissioned one of their numbers as they laid flat on their back coughing and groaning. 

"Any of you other bastards want to try something?" He asked menacingly as he displayed his wicked looking claws on one hand. He extended his fingers then clenched slightly, allowing the cracking sound to be that much more intimidating. Kagome couldn't see it, but the smiling snarl he had on his face displayed his fangs quite well to the offending attackers. If it wasn't such a terrifying situation, she would have laughed for the look of their expressions was priceless. 

The other two backed away, not willing to turn their back on this new comer. They paused only to help their comrade back up and over to the vehicle that was waiting in the street. Once they had packed themselves inside, it sped off down the road.

InuYasha relaxed his stance, then turned his head to peer down over his shoulder at the girl still on the ground. 

Glittering golden eyes meet her brown ones, which held back moisture that was in them from falling. They held each other's gaze only briefly before Kagome's lashes swept downward as if the action hid her away from him. Softly, that even the hanyou's ears couldn't pick it up, she murmured, "I should have stayed with you."

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Extension of the first part of this chapter:

"Feh," InuYasha growled, sinking down against the rough surface of the wall after testing the air. He didn't detect any demons lurking in the immediate area: the girl was perfectly safe walking home without him tagging along watching her every movement. 

She must have gone this way hundreds of times before he ever showed up, one more wasn't going to matter. All he was there to do was to keep the demons away until he was able to obtain the necklace for himself. Anyway, she didn't want to be around him.

"Feh," he let the simple sound roll at length off his tongue. The feeling was mutual. He didn't want to be around her anymore than he had to be either.

With the sun warm against him, InuYasha stretched out where he was and closed his eyes. He entwined his fingers together and slipped them beneath his head. It felt nice there: up away from everyone, just the sky above and the heat of the sun beating down on him, and Kagome's scent of blossoms and honey…

His eyes snapped open; his mind going blank for a moment. WHAT?! Then he did a mental shake, reprising himself. What was wrong with taking notice of a scent that he's become familiar with, especially when it was as pleasant as hers. That didn't mean that it meant anything more. 

Once again, he closed his eyes, allowing his senses to lull back into a relaxed state, or at least as much as he allowed himself to be in; musing with ideas in which he could get that necklace away from her without being planted into the ground. No, finding himself in a crater about ten feet deep, just before or as soon after he got it, not able move wasn't too appealing. She would just walk over and pluck the thing right out of his hand and then what?

Ideas mulled around in his head all the while his senses kept returning to her scent. He liked it: it relaxed him, and he started to doze off.

It was the smell that jerked him back awake, bringing him up to a crouch and fully alert. He sniffed, then sniffed again, testing the scents that mingled in the air. He could still detect Kagome's but something else blended with it. Fear. She was afraid, something was happening. 

Without giving another thought, the hanyou raced across the length of the building he was on and leaped into the air. Barely did his feet touch down upon the next one before he launched himself back up. From building top to an occasional tree or lamp post, InuYasha raced onward following the trail with his heightened sense of smell. His ears flicked upon hearing her scream.

"Leave me alone," she yelled, which was followed by a taunting male's voice. "…don't want to play….", "…maybe I want to…".

They were close. He was almost there upon them. **_'Just hang on…'_**

Again she screamed, just as he leapt once more into the air. Looking down, searching, he saw her and she was kicking out at the one that had a hold of her; struggling to keep herself away. Her fear was so thick that it brought forth a furious emotion within him. 

He touched down at the point where he had first intended to land, but now his direction wasn't a forward motion. Instead, he immediately twisted himself and went half a leap back the way he came, coming to rest right next to the one that had a hold of Kagome. In a blink of an eye, InuYasha took hold of him by the back of his vested shirt and ripped him away from her. 

Without looking; without thought, the man instantly struck out, punching out at his attacker which connected somewhere in the guys stomach. The hanyou didn't even flinch. Realizing that his strike didn't have any effect, he looked up and found himself face to face with an angry golden eyed demon. He only had time for his mouth to drop open before finding himself flying through the air and landing with a hard thud on the sidewalk. He laid there groaning with the wind knocked out of him. 

"She said to leave her alone!" he growled, baring his fangs and putting himself between Kagome and the other two males. "Any of you other bastards want to try something?"

Wanting to add a little more emphasis on who they were dealing with, InuYasha displayed his hand brandishing his sharp claws, and after extending his fingers slightly, he clenched them a bit to make the bones in his knuckles crack. It was an unnecessary act, but it made it just that much more intimidating. 

The two standing attackers turned white, cowering, then started backing away. They stopped only long enough to get their nearly unconscious companion off the ground, not turning their backs to the creature which stood poised to fight, and escaped to the vehicle that was out in the street. They scurried with haste to put themselves back inside and then it took off down the road.

After a few moments, InuYasha relaxed his stance and turned his head to glance over his shoulder at the girl that was still on the ground. His eyes meet her glistening chocolate ones and held their gaze only seconds before she hid them beneath the sweep of her lashes.

Taking in the sight of the rest of her, the thought that ran across his mind was, **_'I should have stayed with you.'_**

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	10. I'll Take You Home

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything. 

To anyone that read the last chapter (Part 9) prior to 11-12-03, please go back and review because there was some major addition made toward the end. 

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 10: I'll Take You Home

The smell of fear still coursed through her, but it was starting to mingle with that of relief now that she was safe. Ha! If that wasn't a contradiction of itself! She had came this way because she was afraid of him in the first place!

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly, knowing that she wasn't because he could smell the blood, if not seeing it smeared on her knee.

"Yeah," she answered in a dull voice as one hand helped to push herself up while the other rose to her forehead pressing fingers against tender skin above her eyebrow. "I think so." 

A strong grip was felt upon her arm as he helped her rise and steady herself. 

"Arigato," she said softly, still not looking at him. He released her. 

She then proceeded to brush herself off, highly conscious that he stood there watching her. She could just imagine how he looked -- arms folded across his chest, a scowl on his face probably thinking that if she had gone with him in the first place this wouldn't have happened. She wanted to argue herself and say, 'who's to say it wouldn't have with him', but after this… after he was there to save her she didn't think that he would have after all.

"Oh, man," she groaned, straightening her leg out in front of her a bit, balancing it upon her heel and examined the reopened wound with freshly torn skin around it. Blood was smeared over her knee and a small trickle started making a path down the front of her leg. Bending down, Kagome wiped off what was running with a finger, discarding it to the ground with a flick of her hand, and then picked off the few grains of rock embedded there with her fingernail. "If I don't stop getting it scraped, it's going to leave an even bigger scar." 

Further concern over her knee was forgotten once she pulled up her socks, which left traces of blood behind on them from doing so, and turned her attention to dusting off the back of herself. 

Her hands made little brushing strokes with her movements slightly harder as she dusted off her bottom, then she hesitated for a moment, feeling something moist against one hand. Bringing it around to see what it was, she saw that it was smeared with blood. She gasped softly, stretching her leg behind her, this time to balance herself on the ball of her foot. Twisting her head, she tried to peer over her shoulder to see how bad it was even knowing that it was impossible to discern anything back there. Yet, still, it didn't stop her from trying. The next instant all she knew was being pulled forward, her arm caught in a grip and then landing with awkwardness against him.

InuYasha had noticed the blood smeared on her hand, also, when she brought it back around. He immediately took a partial step forward, reaching out to grasped a hold of her opposite arm, and then pulled her until she was against the front of his side. Her cheek pressed against the outer part of his upper arm, the bend of his elbow prevented her from slipping forward to an awkward stance, as did his leg. In this position, he was able to easily jerk up the back of her skirt to assess the injury.

Landing against him was startling enough, but her senses were given another shock as no sooner was she brought up against him she felt the back of her skirt lifted up. Comprehension of that fact took a moment or two to register properly, -- including the knowledge of his leg settled almost between hers, -- and when it did, her reaction was immediate as she shoved back away from him and a loud audible crack vibrated the alleyway.

_She_ had managed to get a recoil out of him as where the man earlier had not.

"What…" InuYasha angrily exclaimed in confusion, holding a hand against his injured cheek. "What the _hell_ did you do that for?!"

"For pulling my skirt up, you jerk!" she shot back, quickly smoothing the material back down.

There was a second that InuYasha just stared at her as if he didn't understand her reasoning, then his ire set back in and pushed his face out toward her. "_Baka_! I was seeing how badly you were hurt!"

She responded in the like. "Well, next time, if I'm not unconscious, I can see to it myself, thank you very much!"

"Fine! It's not like I really care anyway!" And he turned away from her, crossing his arms.

"Whatever," she tossed back, knowing the true reason for her outburst was stemming from embarrassment. She then took a step to leave and winced from the pain that shot through her leg.

Immediately InuYasha's hands were there to keep her upright, despite that he had been facing the opposite way just a moment before.

"Come," he sighed, turning his back to her again. "Get on. I'll take you home." 

He bent down low to allow her to climb on easier. 

"Get on…your…back?" 

"Yes. You're hurt and I can get you there way faster than you can walk."

He stood there, hunched down like that, waiting, but even after several seconds passed he still did not feel any movement that indicated she was getting on. Just as he started to turn his head to look behind him, about ready to say something, he felt her hand upon his shoulder, a push of his hair, and then her weight straddle across his back. The heat of her body was more than what he expected. In Kagome's point of view, she was glad that he hadn't turned completely to see her for she was certainly blushing from head to toe at the prospect of straddling him like that - a near stranger to her, and a demon one at that, and yet he was more than that to her right now. Steeling herself against the awkwardness, her cheeks hot, she yielded to the offer and climbed up. 

"Press your legs against the sides of me," he instructed, meaning for her to position them against his sides rather than have them flopping in front of him. But when she just squeezed her legs tightly around him, he just barked, "Feh! Pull your legs up like you would ride a race horse!" 

The sharpness of his tone had her responding quickly to his order. Her hands tightened upon his shoulders while she lifted herself up a bit to gain a better balance once she lessened the hold of her lower half. There was nothing she could do about pressing against him more full as she did so. 

Her legs loosened their hold around his waist, and she felt his hands cup underneath her feet to help guide them to where he wanted them positioned. Instead of staying where she was, or settling back down, she lifted her body off slightly.

"Sit down," he commanded harshly, and immediately felt the weight of her body pressing back down upon him as her legs clasped snug against his sides.

Not thinking -- definitely, not thinking -- Kagome returned absently, "I am sitting…"

"KA-WHAM!

InuYasha went down with Kagome right along, on top, with him. Of course she didn't have the enchanted pull as he did, but having the ground beneath her, so to speak, suddenly vanish, gravity had its own effect.

**__**

Ow! The pain! She winched to herself as the pavement scoured off more tender skin from her already injured knee, not to mention another crack she got on her forehead as she fell against the back of his head. 

She laid there crumpled against him for a few moments, hearing the muffled sounds beneath her, but was too dazed to do anything more than stay as she was. When they continued, she began to stir, pushing herself up, and it was at that same time that he was able to raise his head and make the words very clear.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME, WENCH!! GET OFF!! GET OFF!! GET--THE-- _HELL_--OFF!!" 

As fast as a scalded cat, Kagome half scooted, half rolled off his inert form, coming to rest on the back of her legs next to him and the impression he made into the ground.

"I'm _so_ sorry about that, InuYasha! I didn't mean…!"

He cut her off by making a sound in the back of his throat that reminded her of a low growl, and all she could do was watch as he strained against the invisible pressure that held him down. No matter how much he tried to push himself up, he could only do so as the force lessened bit by bit on it's own.

Despite her having gotten off him, he continued to grumble beneath his breath, and if that wasn't enough, his bared clenched teeth told her all she needed to know as to how he felt right then. It should have made her get up and run the rest of the way home, she felt a need to escape him, but she couldn't. She just sat there, and he didn't stop his growls until he was finally able to unplaster himself completely from the ground.

"InuYasha…" she spoke his name in an effort to lead into an apology, her voice just a little more than a whisper but it held genuine sincerity.

"Just shut up and get on," he snapped, silencing her, and crouched down once more for her. 

"…I _really_ am sorry. I…"

"Feh," he growled loudly, giving a twisting backward jerk of his head, wordlessly ordering her to get on.

It took a moment, but then he saw her rise up and felt her touch upon him: she moved his hair to the side before climbing up and positioning herself once more against his back. This time her legs pressed against him where they ought to be. 

"It's… It's a long way to walk with me on your back like this."

He gave an arrogant snort, commenting, "As if you're anything more than a flea on my back."

He started to stand up, and the action compelled her to press her body more fully against him, half afraid that she would fall backwards if he straighten any further. Then she exclaimed, "My backpack."

Without a word, InuYasha moved toward the abandoned satchel and picked it up. 

"Ready?" he asked, and felt her head nod against his hair and the uncertain yet soft, "Umm-uh."

"Hang on." Clasping her by the back of her legs, he took off, not giving her time for any protests. 

He ran, but not so much so that the air would rip the girl off his back either. No, he waited until he felt her clutch at his shoulders more firmly, had felt her fingers dig into the material of his shirt before he sped up his pace. His body stayed low, allowing the wind to rush past him much easier.Kagome just held on to him, keeping her head down and nearly under his mane of hair. For him to be running as he was, the ride wasn't as jarring as one would have expected it to be. She knew what it was like getting her teeth rattled, but his movements were fluidly smooth.

With her eyes tightly shut, she could only feel that InuYasha jumped upward. His body straightened a bit and then she felt her body being pushed downward as a gush of air plummeted against her, which forced her to tighten her hold. Her heart beat so hard and fast in her chest; she was sure that he could feel it against his back too.

She felt a sort of 'leveling out', and finally dared to take a peek to see where they were, discovering only blue sky surrounding them. Venturing a little more of a look, she saw the tops of the scattered trees and roofs of the houses and buildings below.

"InuYasha," her breath caught in her throat, and she pressed her body closer against him if that was possible.

A little smile curled the corners of his mouth.

He started in his downward decent, feeling the tightening clasp of her body as she made ready for the impact of the landing. He could sense her fear, but it made her snuggle that much closer to him and he was liking the feel of her against his back.

It wasn't the jarring splat she had anticipated. It was almost… gentle as his foot touched upon the surface of the roof of one of the houses, and, yet, no sooner had he touched down, he sprang once again into the air. After a couple more bounds, her body started to relax against him, her fear of the unexpected now giving way to a whole new kinds of wonder. She felt just like an extension of his own body, fitting against him so well.

So! This is what flying was like… kind of. The air rushing around you, gliding over the surface of the world below, seeing more than a person could ever hope to see… except… maybe people in hang gliders she guessed. But this -- this was exhilarating! And her heart beat even that much faster, only it was now for different reasons than before.

InuYasha touched down once more; this time landing on the pavement of the sidewalk and he sped down the path for the short, remaining distance it took to reach the entrance gate of her home. Almost as quickly as it began, the trip was ending and she felt a pang of disappointment. 

He didn't stop at the gate, but his speed had greatly lessened as the surrounding scenery didn't pass by in a blur. Still he managed in no time at all to zip up the flight of stairs, cross the courtyard, and up the second flight as well. He didn't take her right up to the door of her home, instead deciding on a safer distance several yards away. He then crouched down to allow her to slide off, and stood up.

Kagome didn't move away. Instead, she stood there, holding on to him as she regained the use of her legs. If hers were this wobbly then she knew she had to have crushed his ribs in.

After a short time, it was InuYasha that grumbled impatiently, "You going to stand there pressed against me all day?"

His words were rewarded by her stepping back from him and her hands falling away. The instant she did that he felt a loss when the warmth of her body wasn't there anymore. He turned and handed her backpack to her.

She gave him a faint, awkward smile as she said, "Arigatougouzaimasu (thank you very much), InuYasha, for saving me back there."

Before he even stopped to think, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "I wasn't saving you. I was making sure nothing happened to the necklace." Then added, a little late to be asking, "You **_do_** still have it, don't you?"

At first she just stood there staring into his golden eyes, then she dropped hers to the pack she had in her hands. Reaching one hand up to her chest, she felt the round stone beneath her shirt. "Yes." she replied weakly. 

"That's all that matters."

She didn't have a smart comment to throw back at him just then, not really, not after he still saved her -- whether it was because of the jewel or not. She took a step to the side of him and started to move past. 

"'Bye, InuYasha. Thanks anyway."

(Sweat-drop from InuYasha) 

He watched silently as she walked to the door; he could tell that her leg was bothering her, and there was still a fresh course of blood coming down the side from under her skirt that was now stained at the hem.

"You're still bleeding." He said before she got to the door.

"Yeah, well…" What was she to say about that? "I'll live."

She didn't stop as he thought she might, and then vanished into the house without another word or glance. 

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 10 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Ok, did I get the word for Thank you very much, correct? Arigatougouzaimasu is the word I found that is suppose to mean that, and here I thought it was totally different. Feel like such an idiot for all the times I said something else.


	11. Don't Cry Because of Me

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything. 

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Notice: This chapter has been revised at the bottom. If you have read this chapter prior to 11-18-03, because check out the different ending. Hope you like this one.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

****

Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

****

Part 11: Don't Cry Because Of Me

From Previous Chapter:

"You're still bleeding." he said before she even got to the door.

"Yeah, well…" and what was she to say about that? "I'll live."

She didn't stop as he thought she might, and then vanished into the house without another word or glance.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

When Kagome shut the door and leaned her back against it, she felt ready to cry, her eyes burning from the salt of the tears that welled there in little pools. It wasn't just because she had been chased and attacked for the third time in about as many days, and it wasn't just because of a skinned knee, a bruised shoulder, and a scratched up posterior either. Maybe it had a little to do with the headache she was starting to get, or maybe it was because her brain got so rattled around in her head that she wasn't in her right mind anymore. She was positive that she must have gotten a concussion or two from recent events. One thing she knew for sure, it _did_ have something to do with a white haired, golden eyed Inu Yasha. 

Aahhh… she knew she wasn't in her right mind anymore because this was crazy. He was a youkai -- a real, flesh and blood one at that, and he was gruff and demanding, and impatient and… and… there was only one thing he was after; of that he made all too perfectly clear. And, on top of everything else, he could be so hateful… 

So why did she feel like this? And why did it matter anyway? 

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

InuYasha wasn't in the best of moods either. His mind was also doing double takes of it's own. First of all, he knew that it didn't matter what happened to the stupid wench, yet there he was 'saving' her from those wolf curs. He knew why he had saved her from the one in the park days back: he had taken the necklace and that was something _he_ couldn't let happen. Then there was the fact that she reminded him so much of… well, OK… _HER_… but that's were it ended! _SHE_ was just a copy of the original, a copy of the _real_ thing! She didn't have **_'_**her**'** scent, she didn't have **_'_**her**'** personality, and she certainly didn't have **_'_**her**'** grace either! What she did have was that necklace, and that was the reason he was lurking around, helping her out. That was the only reason!

**_'So, why did you get so upset when those men were attacking her?'_** the little voice in his head spoke up.

****

'_Perfectly_ good reason why,' he argued back. **_'They were hurting someone less able of defending themselves, and there were three of them.'_**

'And you would know about that, huh?'

Clenching his teeth, he growled, **_'Yes.'_**

'Don't see you running around rescuing anyone else in distress.'

'They don't have something that I want.' he reasoned with himself.

**__**

'What about her scent? It may be different, but you like it!'

'There's enough rotten smells to contend with without sticking my nose up at something that's nice for a change. So?'

Nothing else echoed back in his head. Ha! Just as he thought. He didn't care. 

The argument in his head had accompanied him to at least the middle of the courtyard, when his nose caught a trace of something. He paused, sniffing the air, trying to make clear what it was and where it came from, then froze for a second at the startling realization. Giving his shoulders a twist, he glanced back to the house. He listened closely, ears perked up, but he didn't pick up anything that normally would be associated with that kind of smell. 

She was crying. Silently. He could smell the salt of them as they ran down her cheeks, but there wasn't a hint of the usual noise that tended to followed along with them. His ears drooped slightly, and the urge to go back to her was strong. He didn't want her to cry. He wanted to remember the scent of her just as it was which still clung to his back.

Her wounds must be really hurting her, he tried to explain the reason for such, but something inside him knew that wasn't the truth. She hadn't cried at all over them before, so why would she start now? No; she was doing alright until he made those cutting remarks to her. She had been thanking him for 'saving her'… actually thanking him,… and she had smiled -- at him! Then, he saw how her eyes fell from his after he said those words. Eyes that had been so filled with…amazing wonder, and then he went and crushed it all for her.

InuYasha issued a low growl, ears lowering even further as his mood darkened more. He didn't like a woman to cry. He remembered his mom crying. A lot. Crying over him. She was… She had been everything to him when he was a young pup before… -- before she died. So kind and gentle. She never should have been made to cry like that. Not because of something like him; he wasn't worth the sadness and grief that he caused for her. And now, sensing Kagome's tears, he wanted to make them go away. But what could he do now for her?

**_'Nothing.' _**he told himself; he had already done all that he could to her.

Turning back around, he continued to walk away from there.

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

She dropped her backpack beside the wall next to the door, and wiped her tears off with the sleeve of her shirt. She was going to have to face her mother and she didn't want to upset her more than she was already going to be. After all, InuYasha had came before anything more happened, and despite him claiming that it was only because of the necklace, he had seem genuinely concerned a little about her -- that was, that it lasted until just a few minutes ago.

Pushing herself away from the door, Kagome limped her way into the kitchen where she knew her mom would be preparing supper.

"Mom," she said to capture the attention of the woman that stood at the stove with her back presented.

She turned upon hearing her daughter's voice, and the shock at the sight of her launched her into verbal and physical motion. 

"Kagome!" she rushed to her daughter with eyes wide and distress upon her face. "Oh, Kami, are you alright? What happened?!"

"I--I'm fine, Mom. Really…" she returned wanting to put her mother more at ease. "I'm just scrapped up a bit, that's all."

"What happened?" she demanded again, looking the appearance of her daughter's clothing, taking note to every detail that marred it and her child's skin.

"It--It was that gang… The one that move into the area not too long ago."

"What did they do?"

And about that time Sota, Kagome's little brother came rushing through the door, stopping short when he saw the state his sister was in.

"Kagome, you got blood on your skirt, and it's running down your leg. How'd you get hurt?"

"Blood?" Mrs. Higurashi murmured absently, and then it dawned on her. "Oh, Kami, they didn't…"

"No," she returned quickly and a bit louder than usual. "No, Mom, that didn't happen."

"Tell me what happened." She helped her daughter over to the table to sit down, but Kagome resisted putting herself in that position just yet.

"Umm, the back of my leg… it's scrapped up pretty good I think." 

Putting her hands against the side of the table, she allowed her mom to lift the blood stained material up over her hip. She winced at the gasp that issued from her mother's lips.

"Kagome," the name of her daughter came out in nearly a whisper and it was a heart wrenching sound. "Tell me. Tell me exactly what happened as I clean this and then I think we should call the police."

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

He could have sped out of there quickly, or he could have just bounded into the air, but he didn't. He didn't feel like doing anything else except just what he was doing --- walking. It gave him more time to mull things around in his head at the point of where it stemmed from. He wanted to get out of there, but he wasn't in that much of a hurry either. Eventually, he went down the last flight of stairs and through the open gate. He had just turned past the pillar and started walking down the sidewalk when a flash of lights came on.

"Stop right there."

InuYasha halted in his tracks with a deep breath of annoyance, not even bothering to turn to see who it was. He already knew.

"What is it now, you old crone?" he said with as much feeling as he felt.

"Loose your way?"

**_'As in reference to what?'_ **he questioned silently, but said, "No."

"What are you doing around here then, InuYasha?"

"Not what _you_ think." he answered grimly. "I brought the girl home."

There was a silent pause, and then the 'old crone' stepped around in front of him.

"Really?" her voice held a bit of doubt.

"Yes," he said more sourly, looking at her. "She was attacked by three bastards that belong to that Wolf gang. They reeked with the stench. I saved her and brought her home. Go up there and ask her if you want."

The woman was silent for a thoughtful moment. "Perhaps I will check her out."

He bet that it wouldn't be the only thing that she would check on. "The necklace is still safe and sound around her neck. Do you really think that I'd be walking out of there in this kind of mood if I'd gotten a hold of that damn thing?"

No, she didn't believe that he would. At any rate, she said, "Go wait in the car, InuYasha."

With a motion and a look of 'I don't want to do that - You can't make me', he said sourly, "You know that can't hold me."

He was right about that. A mere car or even jail cell could not contain the half-demon unless the seals were put in place.

"I know, InuYasha. Does that mean that I need to…" 

He knew what she was going to say before she finished. And no, he didn't want the seals used; they hurt when he would get close enough to the barrier it erected and accidentally touched it. And if he gave his word about something, he would keep it. 

"Feh! Fine!" And he stomp over to the vehicle and put himself in the back. God, how he hated this! When he became full demon, no one was going to cage or hold him back again. No one!

He leaned his back against the door, his head against the window. He crossed his arms in front of him and his legs and feet stretched out across the seat.

"Be here when I get back." he heard her say through the glass, but he didn't bother to look.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

There was the sound of knocking upon the door.

"Sota," Mrs. Higurashi spoke to the younger child. "Go answer the door and see who it is."

"Ok." And he scampered away to do as he was bid. After a few moments, he returned with the lady police officer in tow.

Mrs. Higurashi looked up from the task of cleaning Kagome's knee. She wasn't quite prepared to see the officer there so soon, but was relieved that she was.

"Officer Shi---" She started but was cut off.

"Kaede, please."

"We weren't expecting you here so soon. We just called the station just a few minutes ago."

"I was coming to see about Kagome, and I… was informed that there was an incident that happened today." Her one good eye shifted over to Kagome and her apparent disheveled state. 

The sadness that was in the young girl's eyes lifted some what as she interacted with the familiar officer. She even tried to give her a smile, but it was weak.

"How are you doing, Office… er… Kaede?"

"The question should be, how are you doing?"

"A bit skinned; a few bumps and bruises."

"Would you like to tell me what happened?"

Kagome was quite a moment looking down at the floor. She had gone through this with her mother, and it wasn't that she didn't want to tell the woman, it was just that she didn't want her Mom having to hear it again. She was already half a wreck now as it was.

Kaede waited patiently for the young girl to answer her, allowing her to take her own time to say however much she wanted. She could tell that she was holding back from speaking, and she didn't believe that it was entirely for her own self. No, this girl was aware of those around her, conscious as to how her words would effect them. 

Finally, Kagome started to speak. "I was coming home from school, and I… decided that I would take my normal route instead of the other way." She was sure that the woman understood her meaning of the 'other way' since that was where they had met in the first place. "There were four of them, but only three got out and started chasing me…" She winced a little at her confession, knowing the images that her mother was creating in her head; seeing her little girl running, afraid… "I think that they are part of that new gang that's around here now."

"What did they do?"

"Throw me to the ground once they caught up with me, and then I tumbled and hit into a dumpster that was there; that's were I smacked my forehead. Then one of them grabbed me by the leg and was pulling me…" Kagome became silent for a moment as she reflected back to that moment. "and that how I got the back of my leg skinned up." 

"Did they do anything more to you?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "No."

Kagome paused for a moment to take a breath, collecting her thoughts as to what she would say. "They didn't get a chance to, because that's when that… guy,… umm… InuYasha, showed up. He… rescued me from them."

"InuYasha?" Kaede questioned, looking at the girl with a bit of astonishment, and the she nodded in response.

"And how did you get home?"

"He… umm… he brought me here, and then left. It's been a little while ago."

"I would like to meet this InuYasha," Mrs. Higurashi said, feeling grateful for the man that had aided her daughter from further harm. "Maybe we could have him over…"

"No!" Kagome's outburst startled her mother. "Really Mom, he's… not… all that nice." **_'Not to mention he's a demon.'_**

"Kagome, this person took on three gang members to keep you from harm. He couldn't have even thought about himself to do so. That has to say a bit about his character. There should be some way to let him know that we're grateful…"

Kaede gave a low throaty chuckle, admitting herself. "InuYasha is pretty rough around the edges himself."

"Really, Mom, I doubt that he would even come," she blushed imagining him there in the first place and trying to figure out some excuse to get her mom off that track she was on. "Besides, I've only met him a couple of times, and I don't know anything," **_'Liar'_** her head yelled. "much," she added to be a little bit less of one. "about him. I don't even know where he lives."

"I'd like to at least say thank you."

"Believe me, Mom, courteous things like that doesn't matter to him." **_'And I ought to know that well enough by now.'_**

To move the subject away from the girl's predicament over InuYasha, Kaede interceded by asking, "Kagome-chan, you mentioned about scrapes. Would you mind if I took a look?"

Kagome showed the older police woman her knee first, and then turned to the side a raised her skirt a little to show her the back of her leg.

"I'll probably have a bruise on the back of my shoulder. I hit the ground pretty hard when I tumbled over." She also showed the woman her hands which showed scraped a few fingers. "And there's a couple of bumps on my head."

Kaede looked the girl over very carefully. She was shook up, but who wouldn't be, and her clothes and features all marked the signs of an attack -- a human attack, and nothing else.

"Was anything stolen?"

Kagome looked the officer in her one good eye. She knew exactly what she was asking. "No. It's safe." she answered quietly.

The lady nodded.

"Are you able to walk with me down to the car? There's someone I want you to identify."

"Yes, I could do that."

"Should I come…"

"No, no. Not necessary." Kaede denied. "All she has to do is look at him and tell me if it's anyone from the incident she recognizes. Picked him up not far from here."

Both Kagome and her mother was alarmed, with Kagome wondering if they had also found out where she lived. Not wanting to worry her mother further she decided to get that part quiet until she was alone outside with the officer. 

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The two of them walked outside.

"Do you mind if I see the necklace, child?" Kaede questioned, and they paused at the top of the flight when Kagome stopped to pull out the very thing that was asked for from under her shirt. She displayed it for the Officer.

Kaede looked at the jewel studiously. The smooth round gem looked as normal as it ever did amidst it's bluish-pink gleam. Then she glanced up at the dark haired girl that reminded her so much of her sister a long time ago. She gave the girl a firm weary smile, patted her hand, and started to descend the flight of stairs that was before them. Kagome shoved the contrasting piece of jewelry of jagged and round smooth pieces back into shirt and then followed the older woman on the opposite side of the hand rail. She didn't think to ask if there was any reason to want to see it, she just assumed that it was to insure that the item was really safe and sound.

Again Kaede spoke up. "There's something else that you haven't told me yet, child."

Kagome was surprise that the woman picked up on that. "I didn't want to mention it in front of my mother, because I didn't want her to worry more. But one of those guys knew who I was because he called me by my name. I didn't recognize him at all, myself. I didn't recognize any of them. You don't think that they know where I live, do you?"

"That I don't know. I wish I could tell you that it wasn't so. You could come down to the station and look through some of the pictures if you want, but if it's this new gang, we haven't much on them at all yet. Is there anything else?"

"N-Not really."

"You are not hiding the fact that InuYasha did you any harm, are you?"

"What? No! He didn't hurt me at all! In fact, I was the one that…that -- kind of -- actually hurt him." 

"Oh," That surprised the older woman. "And how did you do that?"

"I--I slapped him."

The police lady chuckled under her breath. "What reason did you have to do tempt the hanyou's ire so?"

"The jerk pulled my skirt up." Once it was out of her mouth, she felt bad because even though it had been rather embarrassing, he really had not done it for any other reason except to see how bad she was hurt after seeing the blood on her hands. The dumbfounded look on his face afterward told her as much if not for him bellowing them at her. 

"He saw blood on my hand when I dusted myself off." She gave an explanation as to why he had done it. "He… he said he was checking to see how bad I was hurt."

She was very amused now. "What did he do then? You don't look any more worse for wear from the ordeal."

"Oh, the usual -- he yelled; wanted to know why I done that, but that was pretty much it. Then offered to bring me home, and well, that's what he did."

"And that's everything?"

They had reached the top of the second set of stair which led to the gate opening. "Well… Kaede?" They paused again at the top of this second flight. "You didn't tell me that he could fly."

"Fly?"

She nodded.

Kaede laughed under her breath, shaking her head. "InuYasha cannot fly, child. He's a hanyou dog demon. He merely glides between bounds. He can go a bit of distance, of course, but he cannot actually fly. You saw him thus, did you?"

This time Kagome could not look at the woman, her cheeks burning red.

"Umm… well… he… he had me get on his back and that's how he brought me home."

"Oh, really?" The woman was quite amused, her mind visualizing the hanyou with the girl on his back jumping from place to place. "How did you fare?"

"It was really… awkward, and scary at first, but then… I don't know how to describe what it was like."

"Hummm." She murmured thoughtfully, wondering about this side of InuYasha that he'd not shown before as they continued down the steps.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong." They continued their walk until they came to the entrance of the shrine's property.

Kagome raised her eyes toward the vehicle she saw, to see if she could get a glimpse of them without having to get too close. She was half afraid to be face to face with one of her attackers again, their glaring eyes looking at her, but she bolstered up her courage to do just that. But then her sight fell upon the white hair that was pushed up against the side of the window as he leaned back against it; she could even see one of his ears. A slight gasp escaped her, and almost immediately his head turned. Golden eyes stared into her deep rich brown ones; then his brows narrowed even more than they were.

"InuYasha…" she murmured, surprised to see that it was him in the car.

"Are you sure he didn't do anything to hurt you?"

Kagome didn't say anything at first, she could only stare at the face that looked at her so angrily. She nodded her head, looking down away from his gaze and whispered, "Yes. I'm sure."

What?! She nodded her head! What was she _nodding_ her head for? She was suppose to shake it and say no. No that he didn't do anything to her. But she wouldn't even look at him and she was saying yes. The bitch! 

He threw himself against the back of the seat, crossing his arms in a huff. He could see where he would be going tonight! Damn! Damn! Damn! And to think that he had felt bad about her just a short bit ago! He didn't care if she cried a river of tears next time, he wouldn't feel anything! What next time? No, he'd leave her to her own from now on! The hell with her! All he wanted was that thing around her neck!

InuYasha thought of ripping himself right out of there and there wasn't anything that could be done to stop him. Then he'd be free. But the only thing of it was, Kaede knew that he'd be back to watch the girl, waiting for a chance to present itself, and they would make it that much harder to be around. They wouldn't give up, wouldn't stop hassling him until they pulled him in. It wasn't worth the risk. He'd just go along with it. Spend the night in a holding cell, -- he growled a deep throaty sound -- and then they'd let him out and he could range free again until the next crises raised up.

The door clicked and opened, and InuYasha sat there with a confounded look on his face.

"Come on. Out." Kaede ordered motioning for him to vacate the vehicle.

"What the hell?" he grumbled getting out of the back. "Get in, get out. Make up your mind, will you?" He stood on the sidewalk, giving the dark haired girl just a glancing look, before he turned his attention back to the heavy set woman who was getting into the front of the vehicle.

"What was all this about, Kaede?"

"Just checking things out."

"Well, next time just leave me the hell alone!"

Kaede ignored his outburst. "Take care InuYasha." That was all she said as she shut the door and drove off.

"As if you care," he murmured at the back of the retreating car, careful as he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. 

Something from the corner of his eye caught his attention and when he turned to see what it was, he saw the departing figure of the raven hair girl. She hadn't said anything; only turned and headed back to the house.

"Oh, man," he clenched his teeth together. He swore he didn't want anything more to do with her. Nothing at all except the jewel piece that she kept around that her neck. So why was he filling so guilty about the thoughts that he had about her just a while ago? 

She was almost at the top of the stairs when he moved quickly over to the gate. 

"How's your leg?" He asked, watching as she stopped at the sound of his voice. For some reason he found that he was holding his breath, waiting to see what she would do. She didn't turn, like he half expected she would, and she didn't exactly look at him from over her shoulder either. Instead she had just turned her head off to the side so that her voice would carry down to him more clearly.

"It's fine." 

Simple question. Simple answer. 

InuYasha was jolted by shock when she just resumed her walk away from him.

"Did you cleanse it already?" He queried trying to get her to stop. "You could get an infection from around that dumpster."

"Yes, I know." she answered, not stopping. "and yes I did."

No more than a second did it take him to get to the top of the stairs, but that's all further he went as all he could do was watch her retreating back. 

"So what did Kaede have to say to you?" 

Again there was a pause in her step, yet she didn't bother to turn toward his direction in any way. 

"Nothing," she answered and continued walking again.

This was not a good sign. Not a good sign at all.

"Hey! Wait," He called out, not knowing anything else to say that would make her stop, and by the persistence of her steps, it made him doubtful that that would work either. But then he caught the faint scuffle the bottom of her feet made across the cement ground until they finally came to a halt.

"What is it InuYasha?" She said half heartedly, trying to focus on a spot somewhere in the distance. When he was quiet, she dared a glance over her shoulder toward him to find that he was just standing there, looking at her. There was something about him that made her breath catch in her throat. Maybe it was the way he was just standing there with his arms daggling at his sides, or maybe it was the unfamiliar expression on his face which softened his features from the usual scowl he had. Whatever it was, it caused her to fully turn around to face him.

"InuYasha?"

They stared at each other for a long moment, and then he made as if he were about to say something, then held it back and turned his face away from her.

"Don't cry because of me." 

Kagome was taken aback. How could he possibly know that she had even cried at all? She was sure that she had not shed a tear before she got inside the house, and she was positive that she hadn't made a sound just because of the fact she didn't want her mother hearing her. But InuYasha had and he knew.

"I know it wasn't because of your injuries, so don't cry because of me." The next moment, the gruff scowl and angry brows came over his features once again, and he turned in a temper and almost stomped down the stairs, while Kagome could only watch. 

She stood there staring at the empty space where he had been, and murmured softly, even though he wasn't there, "Why shouldn't I cry because of you?" 

She waited as if she would hear an answer, yet knowing she wouldn't. Finally, as if she had to pull herself away, Kagome headed back up to the house.

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InuYasha stood with his back against one of the pillars of the main gate, one foot was propped up against it also, and his arms were crossed over his chest. His head was bent forward and his eyes were closed, yet because of the hair of his bangs no one would have noticed, and if they had they would have thought him asleep.

"Why shouldn't I cry because of you?" The gentle tone of her voice still filtered into his ears.

His eyes opened half way, and he stared dully at the ground. It was a question of wonder rather than one she expected an answer to, even though she was still standing there. He raised his head until the back of it also touched the coolness of the pillar, turning his face to the side in the direction he had just come.

"Because I'm not worth your tears." he whisper back giving her an answer that he knew she wouldn't hear. Then he could hear her faint footsteps as she moved into the distance to return home.

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-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 11 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

To those that had previously read the other version of this chapter, how did you like the change? Do I keep this one or re-post the one before?

To ALL the people that have taken time to read and make a review of this story, I want to thank you. I really appreciate the all the comments and reviews that you give. It helps to let me know I'm on the right track, or whether something needed a bit more to it, and it gives me more incentive to go on with it. I especially want to thank the 'repeated' reviewers which lets me know that the story is interesting enough to keep coming back to it. 

Special Note: To Kia Minokoe: Thank you very much for your comment. Since this is the first time I've let people read anything that I've wrote I wondered just how it would come across to someone else. And to Lunatic Pandora1: Yes, the story's a lot harder to write, especially now that I've started posting it. They don't have the large open spaces that the feudal era did. And since they're in modern day, it's a bit harder to get Kagome away from the house, and alone for days at a time with InuYasha. I still have to figure around some things yet. To Squeakers: Thanks for the word koinu (puppy).

I've been debating whether to crack the jewel or not, and I think I've decided which way to do it. Yes, I sat down and did a pro's/con's list for both of them. And yes, Lunatic Pandoral, you're comment caused me to do a lot of weighing between yes or no, because those were my thoughts too. But whichever I wind up doing, I'll have the reason for it. 

Ok, yes, I did find out that Arigatougouzaimasu is thank you very much. (Used in the previous chapter) This was the way I found it spelled too, one big word - yup. Even got a language CD and listened how it's pronounced -- just as much a mouthful. 

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If anyone reads down this far, I'm really looking for reviews on this one, because it went on so long for me to do I don't know whether I was laying out scenes right or not. Hope you don't flame me because of it.


	12. Saturday Morning

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything. 

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Notice: I just want to let any reader that read the last Chapter when it was titled 'Not A Good Sign', was revised after 11-18 and re-titled **'**Don't Cry Because of Me**'**. I changed the ending of the previous chapter starting shortly after Kaede leaves InuYasha on the sidewalk. I was requesting people to comment on the change, and have decided to keep the chapter as it is now. Hope you like and enjoy the change.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 12: Saturday Morning

The bottom corners of the thin powder blue sweater flipped upward and back across her hips from her movement of motion. She wore it, single buttoned across her chest, over a short sleeved, light rose colored cotton dress that swished and bounced against her thighs as she rushed down the steps; footsteps falling in soft taps. Black, unconfined hair that reached just to the middle of her back, streamed slightly behind her, slapping against her, bouncing in rhythm of her flight also. Her hand slid down the railing as a precaution -- just in case. 

Today was Saturday, and if meeting with her friends to go shopping at the mall wasn't enough to be happy about there was always the fact that there wasn't any school for the next two whole days! Even the weather had turned out to be beautiful with the sun shinning instead of the forecast of rain that they were calling for. It was perfect. Perfect to mingle with her friends and get lost in a world that she knew as 'normal' and leave behind the events that had happened over the past week. Past week? Had it been that short? There had been enough excitement to last through two lifetimes, let alone only a week. 

**_'Get your mind away from thinking about all that," _**she chided herself as she continued her quickened pace across the shrine's courtyard. **_'Mall. Friends. Shopping. Clothes. Fun. Boys.'_**

An image instantly sprung to mind. InuYasha. InuYasha with his ruffled, long white hair that was easily twice the length of hers; the golden amber eyes; the white triangled ears atop of his head… **_'Whaaat…? No! No! No!'_** her mind clambered, causing her to pause her stride, and even shake her head as if to clear it. **_'Not him. Not today.'_** but her mind was already conjuring up the look he had on his face just before he had stomped off night before last. Slapping her hands against her eyes, she pressed the balls of them against her lids until the pressure made sparks of light. She even stomped a foot in resistance to her traitorous thoughts. With set determination she dropped her hands to her sides, balling them tightly and then relaxing them. 

**__**

'OK. Let's try this again. Mall. Friends. Shopping. Clothes. Fun. NO BOYS. Mall. Friends. Shopping…' The words chanted in her head as she resumed her walk, absently passing several Sakura trees that stood at the edges of the courtyard. 

So intent was she with her 'chanting' and reaching the other set of steps, Kagome didn't notice the movement that one of the high branches made as she hurried by. Nor did she see the entity that moved into a crouch, having no difficulty with it's balance on the limb, and leapt to the ground as if it was little of nothing to land from that distance. 

"Where are _you_ going in such a rush?"

Kagome had reached the top of the steps and let out an 'eep' when she heard the all too familiar voice demand. She twisted sharply around without thinking and miss stepped. She caught the image of InuYasha standing there at the base of the tree she had passed moments ago before her sight came upon the leafy foliage of the tree itself, and then the sky above as her body lurched back over the steps. She made a grab for the iron hand rail, but she was already too far gone to encircle her fingers around it to snag a hold; instead they slid from the last bit of safety there was until there was nothing but air to grab at. 

The next instant, instead of hitting the hard, perhaps even fatal steps, she felt her body come to a sudden halt, making her head snap back as a muffled cry escaped her lips. She felt cool, strong arms wrapped beneath her; while her fingers dug into whatever part her hands fell upon. Finally she felt herself being lifted up and placed back on her feet upon the landing.

Even after he set her down, he did not release her, but he did shift his hold a bit to take hold of her arms instead, and waiting until she regained her balanced footing once again.

Above her head, Kagome heard him say, "You are definitely not very graceful," as if it were a thought that he had been processing in his head for some time instead of a direct criticism. She tilted her head up to be able to look him directly in the face. 

"As of lately…no," she retorted with something that resembled a half a pout from the mixed emotions of embarrassment and injured dignity. No -- definitely -- no grace at all any time he was around.

It was a moment that InuYasha should have released her and moved away, but when she turned her face up to his, he noticed the bruise on her forehead that showed between the hair of her bangs, which was evidence of her ordeal of hardly two days gone past. A foreign sensation started to weld up with in him. Why did seeing her hurt like that bother him? 

Then realization of the little fact that she was still within his grasp and stood only a couple of inches from him, set in. Her eyes went to the hands that held on to her and then to her hands that gripped him. She immediately let go and moved to take a step back. Upon feeling her sudden and tense withdraw, he dropped his arms to his sides.

InuYasha issued a low growl, which snapped her eyes back to his immediately. His brows were knitted together, the scowl firmly in place with his ears bent slightly.

"Feh! Baka! I'm not going to hurt you! I don't feel like getting my face plastered on the concrete either! If I wanted you to get hurt, I'd let you fall down those damn steps!" he snapped irately.

"I… wasn't… thinking… that…," came her meek, yet truthful, reply. "I wasn't… afraid…"

"Oh, yeah? Why not?" He demanded.

She dropped her eyes from his, feeling the faint twinges of heat prickle at her cheeks. Stammering she tried to say, "I--I… I was…just… standing t-too close to y-you, that's all."

"So? A hanyou isn't good enough to stand close to?"

Embarrassingly exasperated, she was not going to get into a detail explanation of it all. "_That_ is not the reason why!" She almost shouted with a touch of indignation. "And you should know that isn't true!"

"Then…"

"Just drop it, OK?" And to change the subject, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

InuYasha gave her a cynical look that said 'what do you think', and then said a familiar phrase bluntly, "Waiting for you."

"What for?" As soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, Kagome beat herself in the head with imaginary fists. Stupid question! Stupid question! How in the world could she let that one slip her mind? 

His expression didn't help much either, letting her know that he knew exactly what she was thinking, as a muscle pulled one corner of his mouth back in a half smile, the gesture wickedly displayed one of his fangs. Even an eye brow shot upward, and the gleam that sparkled in those golden orbs was answer enough. Then, his eyes dropped from hers to her throat and his face quickly returned back into a frown. She wasn't wearing it.

She steeled herself against his reaction. 

"Where is it?" He barked a bit flustered.

"Like I'd tell you." She rolled her eyes up, and the next instant, Kagome escaped by quickly treading down the remaining set of steps, -- or so she had thought she would anyway. Before she had gotten even half way down, she was brought up short at his sudden appearance in front of her.

"Is it safe?"

Her eyes grew wide upon seeing him, just stopping herself in time from smacking into his chest full force. Glancing over her shoulder, her gaze took in the ten or so steps she had just descended to the spot where she had left him standing, and then turned back around to where he stood now. Mentally she told herself **_'why bother to be surprised'_**; learning that anything InuYasha did was never in the ordinary.

"For the time being."

"You shouldn't leave it unguarded."

Kagome eyed him critically, and the difference in which they stood, she could look directly into his golden yellow eyes flicked with amber without having to look up. "It's not like I wear it all the time."

He looked as if he was about to say something, and she restated, "I'm not telling you." 

There was a battle of thought between the two as they each stood staring at the other. Up close like this, she was able to have a much better view of the smoothness of his face, the softness of his hair, and most of all the set of ears on top of his head. Her gaze shift as she stared at them, noting the insides were of a pinkish shade and they were covered with short white fur that looked really soft. The urge to reach out and tweak them between her fingers was very strong and she had to force herself to keep her hands where they were. She couldn't, however, prevent the smile that started to etch across her lips when suddenly she was broken out of her revere by his sharp tone.

"What in hells are you looking at?"

Her gaze immediately returned to his and was confronted with a pair of the hanyou's angry, scowling eyes.

"Y-Your ears."

If it was possible, his brows knitted closer together and his shoulders square back as if offended. "What about my ears?" he growled.

"I-I just think… they're… kawaii (cute)."

"Whaaa…" The elongated sound was all he could make out as the wind got knocked out of his anger. "You think my ears are kawaii?" he sputtered in disbelief.

She nodded her head, giving him a smile. "Of course."

Recovering almost immediately, InuYasha folded his arms together, and turned his face away from her. "My ears are not kawaii." he responded with an irritated voice. The next thing he knew, one of them was captured between her fingers and felt her gentle rub.

His eyes popped wide open as he stood there a moment, then he jerked his head away and gruffly said, "Don't do that."

Kagome drew her hand back amazed at the velvety softness, and even though she knew they were real, touching them still had her in a state of awe.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I just… couldn't help myself any longer."

He gave her a sideways glance, watching her reaction, seeing the flush that crept into her cheeks again, and that she was starting to get antsy about standing there.

"Well, I've got to go, InuYasha." Motioning him to step aside to allow her to continue down the stairs. She wanted at least to be able to hold onto the railing just so she didn't go tumbling down the rest of the steps.

"Where?" He didn't budge.

"I'm going shopping with my friends at the mall, which I'm late as it is."

Without a thought, Kagome reached out her left hand and place it against the side of his right arm, and gave a little requesting push to the side so that she could pass. He did the same of not thinking, and complied with the silent appeal.

"That's a pretty crummy place to spend a nice day like this at," he grumbled as she glided down the remaining steps. Her heard her tinkle of laughter drifting up to him. 

"You spend the day how you like, InuYasha; I'm spending mine how I like." She started to disappear out of the gate, but then she stuck her head back around the corner. There was a warm smile on her face as she looked up at him. "'Bye, InuYasha. I know I'll see you later…some other time." 

Then she completely vanished; gone again.

InuYasha just sat down on the concrete steps wondering whether to follow or not. He sniffed the air and didn't detect any nuisance nearby whether demon or the wolves. Finally he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't, she was just a stupid girl, and she didn't have the necklace anyway to make it worth his effort. It was somewhere laying unprotected, here, for anything to come across it. 

Then a smile came gradually to his mouth. 

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With a push of his hand against the window, InuYasha slid it upward. The grin was still on his face as he peered inside, scanning it quickly before pulling himself up to perch upon the sill. Everything was quiet inside and he stepped in.

He gave the room a more thorough inspection, taking in the neatly made bed, with her soft pillows and stuffed animals, and a night stand next to it with the lamp he'd seen her switch off that one night, along with an alarm clock and an empty glass. There was a desk and chair, which sat against the wall on the opposite side. It had her books from school, a lamp, pens and pencils, and other odds and ends that she seemed to think was necessary for her studies. There was also the dresser, which he had seen her leave the necklace upon before too, a mirror that hung on the wall over it, and a closet that stood particially open.

The room looked very neat and tidy, and it should be easy enough to locate the object he'd came for. All he had to do was follow her scent as to where she had been. But instead of resorting to that right away, InuYasha decided that the first place he would look was where he remembered her laying it down -- the dresser. Confidently, he moved closer, scanning the various items that adorned the top, but he didn't see the shining piece of jewelry. He even moved a few things to make sure he wasn't missing any place. Some things fell over, but he didn't pay any mind to setting them back in place.

It was a bit of disappointment, but that was alright, too obvious a place anyway.

Instinctively, he opened the top drawer of the dresser. Inside laid a variety of undergarments in a mixture of colors and styles. He picked one of them up to inspect the curving cups and straps. He rubbed the black silky like material between his fingers much like she had done with his ear. He replaced it and picked up another one. This one was different, causing a slight frown as he squished the pliable contents that was within it. He grinned in amusement. It felt really neat and he squeezed it again. And again. And again, until he felt something cool ooze between his fingers. Staring at his hand he noticed that his claws had punctured the material.

Not knowing what else to do with it, InuYasha dropped it back into the drawer, shaking his hand of the thin jelly like substance which splattered upon the other garments there. Having not finished his search, he reached his hand in to feel around through the contents resuming his search for the necklace. When he didn't find it there, he closed the drawer, and went to the next.

Opening the second drawer, he found it just as varied and colorful. He recognized some of them to be like the piece of underclothing she had been wearing a couple of days ago, just plain and simple. Then there were others that -- well, holding them up in his fingers -- made no sense at all; they just looked like small straps of elastic. Of what use they were for, he guessed only Kagome knew. 

He dug around shuffling through all the pieces of clothing there too and found nothing of what he was looking for. Closing it he went to another drawer.

This one had neatly folded piles of white squares lining almost the whole of the drawer. There were others of different colors, different looks, but the white ones took up the most space. Socks. Sticking his hand in, he searched around the contents disturbing the neat stacks until they were in total disarray. Not finding the item there either, he moved to the next one.

Shorts. Shirts. Each drawer had something different kept in them, but each one was a failed attempt at finding that necklace also. But there was one last drawer of the dresser to search. 

He pulled it out, and peering into it, InuYasha found that this one wasn't the same as the others as it had 'different things' in it that wasn't even clothing at all. Inside of this one there was a large white and blue bottle that he picked up and shook, making whatever was inside rattle. Noticing the cap, he tried to twist the lid off, but it wouldn't open so he hooked a claw under the edge and popped it off which caused nearly all the small white tablets to fly out everywhere. Picking a few of them up, he smelled them and found that even though their scent wasn't that strong, they still had a sharp tinge of some kind of powdery smell to them. They did not tempt his curiosity further, so he let the pills fall out of his hand onto the floor. 

The next thing that caught his interest were the pink plastic squares of two different sizes, and the tubular things that had white paper wrapping on them. Picking up one of the pink squares first, he fingered it as he had done her undergarments. The wrapping ripped at the seam to reveal a folded piece of white cottony material inside, which he unfolded to inspect it further and noticed that there was still a piece of paper down the middle of it. Thinking it wasn't finished being unwrapped, InuYasha took it off but only found that there was just something sticky underneath. And it stuck to his finger as he touched it.

His brows drew together as he tried to figure out what it was used for -- then he smiled. Bandages! The kind that you could just stick to the wound and have it stay, and even stuck it on his arm to see how well it would stick. 

He took out another one, a slightly bigger sized one and opened it as well; finding the same thing in it only of course bigger. These had to be for bigger injuries, but his imagination started wondering and thought if they weren't used for other things too after all. He looked at himself thinking where it could be put. Then, he lifted his foot. 

Hummm……

Walking around her room, InuYasha tried out the new type of foot padding that he discovered. They weren't too bad, even had a little straps that went across his foot, but probably wouldn't be very good running in. Perhaps they were just to keep the bottom of the feet warm at night. That was something to try out… see if they really worked. He took a couple of them out and tossed them on the bed so he'd remember to take them when he left.

His attention next turned to the white paper things laying in there. Ripping off the paper, he studied the strange looking tube with a string coming out of one end. He looked at it, and sniffed it, and fingered it until, finally, he accidentally pushed on the ends and it shot out a smaller cylinder type piece of cotton; noticing that that was what the string was attached to. 

Now what possible use did that have? Maybe he would just take a couple of those too and he could figure out later what it was used for, because right now his search was about something else and he had delayed it long enough. Reaching down, he grabbed a couple of the white paper wrapped things and tossed them on the bed with the other things.

Continuing his search, InuYasha looked under the bed, and between the mattresses, then in the closet; tossing out a few of the shoes in his search there. He opened the drawers of the desk that had her books on it, scattering the contents all about the drawers and onto the floor. 

Nowhere! Nowhere in her room could he find that damn necklace! So, just where did she put it? 

The more he searched the more frustrated he became because, for one thing, he couldn't pick up any particular signature trail that she had left to follow. Everything smelled like her, even the walls! It was as if she had rubbed herself upon everything in the room. 

He was about to go in search of other places in the house, when he heard a movement on the other side of the door coming closer to the room. Hurriedly, InuYasha picked up his treasures off the bed and scampered out the window, leaving the room in a bit of a shambles. He hadn't really meant for it to be as such, but by that time it was too late.

As he landed on the ground, he heard the door to her room open, then he heard a woman's startled gasp, and then if it were possible for a human to growl a similar sound was quietly made just before the door made the clicking sound that it had been closed.

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Note: OK. I don't really know how you'll feel about the room scene, because you're probably thinking that this is modern day and he would know about 'those things', but my point of view is that he's alone. He doesn't have the female variety around to really know about those things anyway other than they get that 'old blood' smell. Since he's a loner and primarily an outcast, he doesn't have the conveniences like we take for granted everyday to know such information. And I wanted something embarrassing, more so on Kagome's part, and couldn't think of anything else. Oh, and about the strap part of that… yes, you just have to stretch the imagination just a bit, because I know his foot had to be bigger than to get the ends to really touch together. Oh, well. (shrug).

Anyway, this kind of (ahem, eyes rolled up and blushing) did happen to me in a way, especially the 'new kind of shoes' part. Not only that knee pads, elbow pads got invented too…. Little kids when their 3! O_O

Hope you don't flame me too badly.

Like to give thanks to those who reviewed Chapter 11 (prior to the revise) and those that emailed me back with reviews of the change: demonofhell; Ryngrl5; InuYashasgirl65; kikyo372; rillus rego; s_hdaniels; ShikOA; Sunnygurl357; sweetdaeth; merry day; Anti [.] Poptarts; Anime-mistress585; Lunatic Pandora1; and forever sleeping peacefully.

P.S. - To rillus rego: Yes, it's on going, not leaving it there.


	13. Saturday Night

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything. 

Read below, after story for notes and such

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 13: Saturday Night

InuYasha was nearly fit to be tied as he lounged on the limb of the sakura tree that he had been in earlier that morning. One leg was bent with his foot resting on the limb, while the other dangled limply over the side. The trunk of the tree supported the slumped posture of his shoulders more so than the back itself, and his arms were, as usual, crossed in front of his chest. He had long ago tired of playing and investigating one of the new items that he took from her room earlier, and now there wasn't much else to do except wait. 

A low agitated rumble was issued out from deep within his throat. Very much longer and he would have to go track the little wench down!

That was about the hundredth time that thought had came to his mind over the past several hours and each time he found himself waiting just a bit longer. The urge was strong to go seek her out, but his denial of her and the unwillingness to leave the necklace unguarded kept him from doing that. So instead remained as he was staring fixedly at the archway of the gate through the foliage.

His ears flicked and listened to each and every footstep that came within audible range over the time that passed, and each time it made him just that much more bothered when he recognized that it wasn't hers.

The day's sun melted down in the distance leaving only the pre-fading light left. Through the branches and leaves, InuYasha watched as the horizon darkened, slowly making it's way across to eventually envelop the entire sky. Even the crickets started their evening serenade, just as the lights from the city below and beyond his lofty perch began to sparkle. The lantern lights of the shrine's courtyard had also began their muted glow.

The cooling of the evening air crept over him, but he wasn't going to budge until that stupid, raven haired girl returned! Oh…yeah…he forgot to mention ugly too!

Just who did that simple, 'ungraceful' human think she was anyway; going off like that and leaving the necklace behind somewhere? Somewhere that any demon could come across and snatch it away -- any demon, that is, except him! It irritated him even more to think how she must of enjoyed it, laughing at him as she fixed it on purpose so that he wouldn't be able to locate the damn thing! It wasn't even like she used any spells or charms to do it either!

In a surge of annoyance, InuYasha changed his position on the limb so that he was lying on his back. The leg that had been dangling over the side before now was placed on the limb with the knee bent upward while other knee was pointed off to the side. He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the further darkening sky between the leaves and branches of the tree. 

The compiling emotions that had been mounting for quite a while now, overflowed and he snarled, "Bitch!" 

Right, wrong, her fault or not, he blamed her as the reason that he came up empty handed in his search -- empty handed pertaining to the necklace at least, and for being clever enough to scent her room like she did, erasing all of her tracks. He blamed her for making him waste the day waiting for her. He blamed her for being somewhere he didn't know. He blamed her for this urge he had to seek her out, and he most definitely blamed her for thinking his ears were kawaii…!

His ears kawaii! How could she ever think his ears were kawaii? They were the one thing that 'stood' out more than anything else. They were one of the first noticeable things that made him so abnormal among the humans. Even his claws ranked a second to them. And, to the demon side……well, his ears were the evidence of his cross-breeding and lessened him in their eyes. But this girl, she thought they were something to be admired -- even played with! Stupid baka, doesn't know any better! 

Heaving another frustrated breath, he wondered what was taking her so long to return when, as if in answer, images of what happened to her a couple of days ago started filtering into his thoughts. It would serve her right after all the inconveniences she had caused him in just a short time of a week! Anyway, she didn't have the necklace, and if something did happen then what did it really matter to him? It was only the jewel in the necklace that needed to be protected. Besides, if something did happen, then all it would do would be to make finding that little item just a bit more difficult…or maybe a bit easier since she wouldn't have the control of his collar anymore. Yeah, that would be good.

No sooner did he think that thought did his body lurch upward, only to twist around and land with his feet balanced on the limb itself while his hands wrapped around the sides of it. A pair of familiar chocolate eyes had appeared before him just as that last thought came to mind. The same eyes that had looked up at him that day he had rescued her from those gang members. 

Dammit! Where was she at? Why didn't she give any consideration to that when she left this morning? What if something had already happened and he wasn't even aware of it? It could already be too late.

Despite the intention of going and tracking her down, he argued with himself, refusing to budge any further. **_No! She isn't what matters!'_**

The tread of footsteps so light no human could have been able to detect the resonance as far away as they were, but he did; then again he wasn't really human either. The sound tickled his ears, which caused them to twitch faintly and they tuned more sharply into the rhythm of each step. He needn't have bothered to have been so acutely attuned for his other senses quickly confirmed that it was her. The faint smell of sakura blossoms and honey caught his attention.

There was another scent he caught around her also, but it didn't pose a threat. It had a sharp, tangy smell and his stomach reacted to that fragrance with it's own growl.

"Feh," he quietly complained, striking his midsection as if to make it stop.

Her footsteps grew louder until finally she appeared, coming up the steps, carrying some blue bags in one hand and a white one in the other.

Stealthily, InuYasha perched like predator toward prey, waiting for her to draw nearer……waiting until she was safely away from the danger of the steps so that there wouldn't be a repeat of what happened that morning. He watched her intently, his sharp gaze taking in her features -- _including_ the smooth and jagged necklace that she wore around her neck! 

Pushing himself back to support his entire weight upon his crouched legs, his eyes widened as he stared at her, his mouth dropping open for a brief moment before clamping tightly shut, gritting his teeth together and issued a very low snarl.

Dammit! She had had it with her the entire time and had let him believe that she had left it there! Stupid, stupid girl! Baka! Baka for going off like that without him there to watch out for her…or rather 'it'! Did she want to get herself killed? 

He continued to watch as she moved - unknowingly - toward him with a light spring in her step and obviously unaware of anything else around her. 

Just as she was passing by, InuYasha jumped from the limb that he had occupied nearly the entire day.

"Took your damn time coming back home, didn't you?"

Kagome let out a small yelp at the unexpected voice, not having considered that he would actually still be there when she got back, but then what else did she expect he would really do? She twisted around in the direction the sound came and there he was at the base of the tree, just as he had been that morning. His arms were crossed now and of course a scouring look was upon his face. He looked no different than the first time she ever saw him… except this time his feet were without the shoes.

"InuYasha, you scared me!" she accused hotly to cover her embarrassment. "Will you stop doing that?!" she said more as a demand rather than a request, and then lastly added, "What in the world are you doing here?" 

In the mood he was in, he ignored her words and injected some of his own. "What in hells took you so long?"

"I told you I was going to the mall with my friends."

"And you make it a habit of staying out this late?"

"It's only 8:30." she retorted flatly in disbelief. "Have you been here all day?"

InuYasha gave a menacing growl and turned his head away as if in disgust, refusing to answer and silence was the only thing between them for a few moments. Then he said gruffly, "There's a lot of things out there that could happen to you. Or have you forgotten?"

_What?! _His words took her by surprise more than being surprised in itself. Where did _that_ come from? Was that InuYasha saying that or did something take over his body? 

"You…?" Dare she even say it? "You were _concerned_ about me?"

"Hell, no!" He shot back, turning his blazing gold eyes upon her, his temper making him reckless with his tongue. "As if I care about some ridiculous, repulsive girl like you! I _'knew' _you had the necklace! I just want to be sure that it's safe! Who in the world would care if you are?"

He couldn't mistake the hurt expression that came across her face even in the subtle radiance of the lamp lights. He couldn't have injured her more if he had slapped her across the face -- in fact, by the way she looked, it was as if he had done just that. After all, this was what he had wanted to do just a short time ago,…wasn't it? 

He watched as her gaze fell from his and then she turned away to continue on toward her home without saying another word. His sensitive ears picking up the heavier tread of her footsteps.

"Kagome," he called out, but her name only tumbled forth in his head not from his mouth.

She had moved the reminder of the distance of the courtyard and had even climbed a couple of the steps, -- which lead to the upper landing where her home sat upon, -- when he noticed that she stopped, pausing for a moment as if wondering what she was going to do. 

He saw her glance over her shoulder at him. The pained look still evident in her eyes. Uh-oh, big trouble! He had forgotten about the necklace that **'**_he**'**_ had around **'**_his**'**_ neck!

"Have you eaten, InuYasha?" she asked quietly.

Whaaa…? His eyes widened a bit and his lips parted, thankful that she was far enough away that only he heard the sharp intake of breath he took. He was completely taken aback. After what he just said to her? She was asking **'**_him**'**_ if he had eaten? **'**_She**'**_ was concerned whether he had or not? 

Where he stood, she could not see the almost boyish expression of regret on his face, or the bent tips of his ears. "No." came his own quiet reply.

She turned her face away and stood there a few moments, thinking, again about what she should really do. 

She stood there long enough for InuYasha to wonder if she was just playing a trick, but then she moved, slightly at first. He didn't realize that he had been holding his breath, as he watched what she was going to do, until he saw her turn around and start to walk back toward him. She fumbled with the bags at first, placing all of them in one hand, then started rummaging through the white one that she carried. Her gaze remained downcast.

As she got within a couple of feet of him, she pulled out a pair of chopsticks and a small white, square-ish kind of box. Still, she would not raise her eyes to meet his. 

She opened her mouth to tell him to sit, when her lashes swept upward as she caught herself in alarmed realization of what she nearly did. InuYasha also noticed that she had kept him from eating the ground, even knowing that he probably deserved it if she had.

As swiftly as she had glanced up at him, she looked back down at the box she held, giving him a faint smile as she held the boxed food out to him.

"I-If you don't mind, umm… eating after me. I-It's what was left over from what I had at dinner. It's -- It's really good, but… umm… there was just too much of it for me to eat it all myself. It might still be warm."

She returned her gaze back to his face.

How…? Why…? How could she be nice to him like that? He had just said something pretty mean to her and here she was offering him some food because she thought that he had gone without any all day! 

Her generosity didn't sit well with him, and his brows started to knit together in a scowl; angry again. More at himself, but that wasn't going to stop him from taking it out on her! Yet the look in her eyes… as she stood there waiting for him to take what she offered…. The look that was there within them melted that course of his action, and he found himself reaching out and taking the box of food from her.

"Arigato," he said softly, glad that the night covered his shame and he settled himself down on the ground. The only evidence were his ears having a slight droop to them. 

InuYasha opened the top of the container, the aroma of the food caused his stomach to growl, but he didn't care about that as he shoveled the first bites of food into his mouth. 

She was right about one thing… it was good. He didn't even remember the last time that he had even eaten something that good. 

So busy was he shoveling bite after bite into his mouth he had not taken notice that the girl had also settled upon the ground in front of him, her legs curled underneath. At least not until her fingers touched his hand, and he froze, shifting only his eyes from his food to her face. His mouth was partially open, stuffed full of food, and there was even a noodle that dangled down against his chin. She was smiling at him a little more fully now, and it lit up her whole face. Gods, she was pretty looking like that. 

Kagome couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips at the expression that InuYasha had on his face, noodle and all.

"If you eat it a bit more slowly, you can enjoy it more." Her voice tickled his ears. She really had a pretty voice, softly and warm, especially when she talked softly like that.

"Feh," he growled, jerking away from her, and continued to eat his own way. Kagome retreated her hand, knowing that she over stepped herself. 

"Umm… I still have most of my bottle of water if… you would like something to drink with that." She crinkled up her nose as she said, "If you don't mind sharing some more of my germs."

InuYasha glanced at her over top of the box, but didn't say anything; so she just went ahead and took it out of her pouch that she had, twisting off the top and setting it down near him. It wasn't long before he scooped it up and took a long swig of it, drinking nearly half of what there was, then wiped his mouth with the back of his arm before he sat it back down.

Kagome watched as he scarfed the food down; scraping every last piece of food out of the container. She wasn't sure, but she thought that while he had his face so crammed into the box that perhaps he had even licked the insides clean too. But she would never know because when he was finished with it, he squeeze it tightly, crushing it into a crumbled piece of trash. He wiped his face - including down his nose - again, and he dropped the crushed box on the ground to pick up the bottle water, finishing it off too.

Before he swallowed the last bit of it, Kagome voice filtered into his ears once again. 

"InuYasha? Why is it that you want my necklace so much?"

A shock of surprise went through him even though he did not let on to her about it. Instead he swallowed what he had in his mouth, wiped his lips with the back of his hand just to prolong answering her, and then tossed the empty container down beside the crushed box he'd discarded moments ago.

"Baka!" he insulted her despite her kindness to him. "As if you can't figure that one out. It's so I can become a full demon."

Kagome was shocked at his answer, not understanding why anyone would want to become a demon at all. Demon's were mean and nasty and did terrible things -- at least that's most of them were from what she heard. 

"Why?" 

"You're a simpleton. If you haven't notice already, stupid, I'm only half."

Kagome was quiet as her gaze wondered over his features. She had never met a real demon before -- half or otherwise, so how would she know? Kaede hadn't mentioned to her why InuYasha wanted the jewel so badly, only not to allow him to have it.

Her expression was thoughtful, and then, because of his words, she said offhandedly, "So you want to be even _more_ unpleasant and rude." 

Whatever he expected to hear her say, _that_ wasn't it, and it loosened his tongue once again in defense.

"If you would just give it to me, then you wouldn't have to put up with me any longer." Then, not able to stop himself, he added spitefully, "I know that I can't stand having to be around you anymore than I need to be! The sight and smell of you makes me so sick I want to puke! And I know that you must feel the same! So why don't you do us both a favor and just give me the damn thing!"

His temper was hot as he stared into her face. She just stared back at him, the same pain filled eyes from just a short time ago glazed back over her expression.

Oh, man, his ears flatten to his head, he hated that look. 

Finally her eyes dropped from his, but even in her shy innocence, Kagome wasn't backing down from him.

"Did I mention cruel? And hateful…" she added as she reached down to pick up the trash he had thrown down, stuffing it forcefully into the empty bag. "and… and… I don't know _why_ you think I would **_ever_** want to give you something that would make you even more so! God forbid you **_ever_** be whole! You're bad enough as it is with only _half_!"

She didn't give him a chance to say anything else as she jumped up and ran toward the house. 

InuYasha could only watch her go, watching as she disappeared over the top landing. He could have given chase and easily caught her, but he didn't even attempt to budge. 

That was definitely not how he had planned on the day going… or ending for that matter. And he had even further distanced himself from the item that he sought to have.

Shortly after she had disappeared, he heard the light sounds of her footsteps returning. Looking up, he saw her standing at the top of the stairs again.

"InuYasha?" she called out to him with a calmed tone, waiting until she was sure he was still there and that she had his attention. When he replied, "What?" her voice, full of all the hurt he had just administered upon her, ordered, "SIT!"

There was a short lived yell, then a KA-THUNK which was soon followed by a series of muffled groans.

**_'Yes,' _**she thought, **_'it does still really work, and it worked really well indeed!'_** And on that note, Kagome turned on her heel and marched back to the house. 

**_'Baka!'_** InuYasha chided himself after he was able to lift his head off of the ground. 

================================

Well, it had been a good day up until she got home at least. First InuYasha and now her mother! She should have just stayed at Ayumi's house, but, considering the talk she just had with her mom, that wouldn't have been an option once she called to ask if she could stay. This day was surely ending on a sour note, not believing just how a wonderful day turned so bad so fast. 

And now she was grounded!

There was no possible way for her room to be in the state that her mother said she found it in, -- not unless Sota, -- the little brat, -- got into her room again and tore it up. He had done that a couple of times before, looking for things that wouldn't have been in her room in the first place. 

As she reached the door to her room, Kagome pushed it open and stared with an open mouth. There were shoes, and pieces of clothing, strewn over the room. There were things knocked over on her dresser and her bed was a mess.

That little brat; he had to be jumping on it again! Why couldn't he do that in his own room, his own bed? Oh, of course, if it were his room messed up then he'd be the one in trouble, not her!

She closed the door with the appearance that nothing was wrong all the while she was steaming mad. No wonder her mother grounded her to doing house work tomorrow!

Walking over to the bed, she set the bags down, and immediately started to fix her bed again; pushing the mattresses back in place, straightening the sheets and comforter, and replacing the stuffed animals back in their places. Next, she picked up the shoes that were scattered and replaced them in a neat, organized row in the closet. She took out two empty hangers and moved back over to the bed. 

Dumping out the contents of one of the bags, Kagome lifted up a large, plain, bright red tee shirt and placed it on a hanger, then picked up a similar one only it was black and placed it on the remaining hanger. She turned to take them over and hang them up in the closet, but wound up sitting down on the bed to stare at them. She had gotten them for InuYasha while she was out, and now she felt really foolish for doing that.

In all the times that she had seen him, he had always had the same thing on -- red torn tee shirt, faded jeans with the knees ripped out of them. It really wasn't her business why he only wore that, but she found herself picking these out for him anyway. She had some ridiculous image in her head about handing them to him and him being pleasantly surprised, but that came crashing down after the run in with him just a while ago. Now she didn't know what she would do with them.

With a heavy sigh, she walked over to the closet and stuck them in to put them out of the way for now.

Kagome resumed her task of cleaning the mess that was made of her room.

**__**

'That little brat,' she thought as she picked up the tiny white pills of her Midol and replaced them back into the blue labeled, white bottle. These little babies were more precious than gold when it came 'that time of the month' and her cramps would start up. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary in the drawer other than a couple of empty wrappers, but she didn't see any of the contents anywhere. Maybe she had just left them in there herself, she thought with a shrug.

Her next task was to go through every drawer that stood open, finding them in disarray and having to go through to reorganize her stuff. Right now, if she got her hands on her brother, she'd more than likely strangle him to death!

Lastly, she straightened the top of her dresser. As she stood there setting things back in place, Kagome looked at herself in the mirror, then looked at the necklace she had around her throat. She frowned a little. Yes, it seemed that things started to go bad every since she gotten it. Maybe she should just give it to InuYasha after all. He wanted it so badly. It would be away from her and then he could deal with whatever consequences came from it. 

She touched the smooth surface, noticing that it looked a bit deeper blue than what she remembered it being. It was barely noticeable. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks with her, but she wasn't in the mood for games or tricks right then. Reaching behind her neck, she unfasten it. For some reason, she just couldn't stand it on her any longer and once removed she laid it upon the dresser top.

All she wanted to do now was put it all behind her: The necklace, her mother, Sota, InuYasha…. With a sigh she moved back over to the closet and pulled down the portable stereo that she kept on the top shelf when she wasn't using it; usually opting to use her personal smaller one anymore, but she felt the need to hear a fuller sound. No, that wasn't right, she felt the need to feel the sound.

Once she set the unit up, she selected a CD that would satisfy the need she had and plopped it in and set it to start playing. As the music started drifting out of the speakers, she moved past the window back to her bed and dumped out the contents of the other bag. Black tights, black long sleeved spandex leotard, and a white see through skirt. She wasn't a ballerina, never was, but loved to dance and sometimes pretended she was one. And when she saw the outfit on display, just like those tee shirts she bought, she had the urge to get it.

It took the whole of one song to change, but before the next one started she had positioned herself in the middle of the room and readied herself for it to begin. When it started it's soft, mellow rhythm, Kagome body began moving with a fluidness that matched; gliding about the room, limbs stretching, bending, reaching in long languid movements…

She was lost in her own world; allowing everything else to disappear. Only the music mattered right then and as it played the built-up tension started slipping away from her. She was oblivious to everything except the sound that flowed through her. Oblivious to the muted white glow upon the dresser; oblivious to the golden yellow eyes that watched from outside her window.

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-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 13 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Well, how was that? Hopefully I caught my spelling mistakes and all that.

Did that clear up what the tiny white pills were from the last chapter?

Note: Even though I have watched many of the shows from the series, there is still quite a few I haven't seen (sigh). So don't get upset IF how I describe her room is different than the series is. I had to guess. I had to make beyond what little I've seen of her room.

I thank any and all reviewers of my story. It does encourage me to continue to write.

Also, anyone that's taken time to read down this far, please note that I have a one-shot called "The Picture That She Drew" and another short story called "Pulling Her Down" if you're interested in checking it out, I'd appreciate it along with reviews on it. Thanks to the ones that have already.

Aishiteru_inu RRRRUFF!


	14. Dance of an Angel

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything. 

Ok……to those who……how about a tease then?

This Chapter was going to be longer, but I felt that I needed to throw something out there as a morsel to entertain a few readers. So the other part of this will have to be in the next chapter, which works out just as well, I guess. I hope I didn't botch this up, and hope that it gives you a little something for right now. And I hope that it reads OK, because it's 2:16 a.m. and my eyes hurt too much too read through it again.

Any readers, please review. I **do** appreciate your comments. - aishiteru_inu

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 14: Dance of an Angel

InuYasha had already settled himself on the branch of the tree that was located in the back of the house; the one which gave him a perfect view into Kagome's room. He was already there waiting before she had managed to get the room herself, and when she did, he was able to see the expression that came upon her face. She literally nearly dropped as she surveyed the room, taking several seconds before all expression drained from her face as she then stepped in and quietly closed the door.

All he could do was watch as she moved across the room, and shortly thereafter setting the bags down and moved about the room setting things that he had scattered, or messed up, back in place. 

Every breath he took for the longest time, he expected her to come flying to the window and yell out the word 'sit', but as time passed he realized that she wasn't going to do that. Didn't she realize that it had been him in there looking for that necklace? 

Oh, he forgot. He did tell her that he 'knew' that she had that particular piece of jewelry with her, so he guessed that was the reason why she didn't single him out…yet.

He made himself comfortable, resting his chin on his forearm and closed his eyes as the girl went about cleaning the room.

When the music started, InuYasha raised his head and peered back into the room, but he did not see Kagome. A bit alarmed, his senses went into alert, and he sat up, sniffing the air with ears perked. There wasn't anything that he could detect around, and he could sense that she was still there, so then, where was she? 

That question didn't take long in finding out the answer as she walked past the window to the middle of the room. His eyes widened as he saw what she was wearing.

It was some kind of tight black outfit that molded against her like a second skin, outlining every curve of her body from her shoulders down to her ankles, with a sheer white piece of material around her waist. What purpose that was he didn't know, because a person could see right through it and he could see the shape of her thighs all the way up to the juncture between her legs. 

She stood there poise, with her eyes closed, as if waiting for something, and when he heard the soft rhythmic tunes start up again he watched as her body started moving. It was almost like watching something in slow motion as her body swayed, one way then the other, or stretched this way or that. She twirled around the room without tripping _or_ falling down; with her hair loose, it swirled around her like a cloud. Now and again, a leg would come up, or she would lift and bend the knee so that the leg would curve behind her. Her arms would reach out, pulling back, circling around, her hands and wrist twisting in their movements. It was almost like she was calling… no, enticing a lover to come to her. 

She never missed a beat with the melody, the movements of her body just fluid and gentle.

Entranced, InuYasha could do nothing more than to sit as he was, staring at her, unable to take his eyes away from her. She was like the mist rolling across the fields. She was like an angel dancing, music of the Gods filling her only for her to pour it back out from her heart, from her soul.

He didn't even realize that the music had even stopped, until she remained standing still in some particular pose that stretched her arms upward. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and realized that he had been holding his breath as he watched her dance. His chest expanded as he started breathing again, and then his breath came in short, painful bursts. 

Gods, she was…… He'd never seen anything…… There weren't words to describe what he saw. 

She was so…… Beautiful. 

The music started again. Same tune, same song. And she started again, only the dance was different. She still moved in the same rhythm and grace, but her movements weren't an exact duplicate of the ones she had just done. He was right, she was just letting the music touch her and it flowed from her from there.

He felt his eyes widen a bit as if even a blink would cause him to miss one moment of watching her, wishing that he……

He sat himself back. 

_What was_ he thinking? _What _in hells possessed him to think something like that? To think she would ever want… Not him. Watching her move like that, she was untouchable; a simple look at his own hands told him the damage he could do to something as delicate as what he was seeing. Angel and a demon? That was a joke! He had tried that once before and it didn't work out, and _'she'_ wasn't even as soft like Kagome was. 

No, as long as he could just sit there and watch her dance like fluid motion around the room, he couldn't ask for more. He had no right to ask for more, not when… 

He laid down on the branch, his eyes never wavering from her, not even to the necklace that laid there sparkling in plain sight upon the dresser. 

Over and over she played that music, as if she heard his request as soon as it ended, --."Again.", "More." -- while a clawed hand would tighten on a nearby branch until she started again. He didn't want her to stop.

Eventually, the rhythm of the music caused his eyes to droop and close, yet it's sound continued to drift into his ears -- reaching out, drawing him into his dream. He could see her behind his lids, flowing with the sound, but in his mind he saw that her eyes had opened and she was looking at him. She smiled -- like the pretty smile that she had given him earlier…before he had went and ruined it. Then he was there with her, standing, not knowing the first thing of what to do, so he just stood there, following her movement with just a turn of his body. That was alright with him because she just continued to smile at him, she kept dancing and swirling around him. 

Then the music ended and everything was still. A moment passed, maybe two, and then she relaxed from her stance and turned toward him. He wanted to say her name, but nothing would come out. He wanted to go to her, but found his legs didn't want to move. Looking down, he found no apparent reason that he couldn't go, and then just as quick glanced back up to her. 

She was still looking at him, her hair just now settling down around her shoulders, tumbling down across her back, swaying slightly from side to side in it's effort to stop. She was still smiling at him, too, as she started walking toward him. 

'Kagome.' her name resounded in his head, while a knot tighten in the pit of his stomach. She was getting closer and he could hear her voice softly say his name.

_"InuYasha."_

He smiled back at her. She wasn't afraid of him. The closer she got, the more clearer and stronger her voice sounded. _"InuYasha."_

Until finally, when she was just close enough to reach out and touch her, her voice penetrated his head, striking him like a loud clap of thunder in his ears, shattering the images of the both of them into tiny exploding fragments. 

"I--NU--YA--SHAAAA!"

He jolted awake and up like a scalded cat (of all things) at the same time. Disoriented a bit, he twisted in midair ready to take on whatever it was that had caused her to scream like that. 

Or so he thought! 

He jerked his head up toward Kagome's window as he started to come down, but he didn't see or sense any demon. He only saw Kagome leaning nearly half out of her window, with a towel around her which allowed him to see the top part of her rounded breasts; one arm was stretched out, holding something in her hand…… 

And that's when he missed his holding as he came back down. 

There was no need for the word 'sit' to come out of her mouth, InuYasha already did a good enough job planting himself into the ground once he fell past the limb.

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	15. What Is That In Your Pocket?

Disclaimer: Same as any of the other chapters. Don't own any part. Not looking to gain anything. 

Thank you for the reviews that I have gotten on this story. Every one of them are much appreciated. I hope that you continue to enjoy this story. 

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

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Part 15: What Is That In Your Pocket?

Previous Chapter:

'Kagome.' her name resounded in his head, while a knot tighten in the pit of his stomach. She was getting closer and he could hear her voice softly say his name.

_"InuYasha."_

He smiled back at her. She wasn't afraid of him. The closer she got, the more clearer and stronger her voice sounded. _"InuYasha."_

Until finally, when she was just close enough to reach out and touch her, her voice penetrated his head, striking him like a loud clap of thunder in his ears, shattering the images of the both of them into tiny exploding fragments. 

"I--NU--YA--SHAAAA!"

He jolted awake and up like a scalded cat (of all things) at the same time. Disoriented a bit, he twisted in midair ready to take on whatever it was that had caused her to scream like that. 

Or so he thought! 

He jerked his head up toward Kagome's window as he started to come down, but he didn't see or sense any demon. He only saw Kagome leaning nearly half out of her window, with a towel around her which allowed him to see the top part of her rounded breasts; one arm was stretched out, holding something in her hand…… 

And that's when he missed his holding as he came back down. 

There was no need for the word 'sit' to come out of her mouth, InuYasha already did a good enough job planting himself into the ground once he fell past the limb.

========================

After giving her hair a vigorous rub with the towel, Kagome allowed it to slip into a crumpled heap on the floor where she stood in front of her dresser. Opening a drawer, she took out a pair of black laced panties and put them on, then she opened another drawer and took out a pair of cut-off jean shorts and slid them up over her hips too. Next she opened the top drawer to retrieve a bra, putting her hand inside before she even looked. She jerked her hand back when it slid into the jelly substance that was there. 

"What?" she started, glancing into the drawer to inspect it more closely, and found that the contents within was mixed with crusted or jellied like stuff. Her mouth dropped open as she wondered what in the world happened to her bra drawer. 

She pinched up an undergarment here and there, and each one had the same 'crud' on it. She hadn't noticed this the night before because it had been one of the drawers that hadn't been open, so she did not look to go through it then. Her brother was so dead!

Her gaze finally came across one of her bras that looked fairly crumbled laying in there, almost hid away because the other garments were part way over it. Taking hold of the straps, she pulled it out like she had done the others and held it up for inspection. It happened to be her gel bra, and it was so tightly crushed it was easy to figure out then that the mess in the drawer had to have been the contents of the bra itself. 

She pulled at it to return it to somewhat it's original shape, and in doing so she noticed the four puncture marks in it -- well, actually eight considering that there was a separate back panel which had encased the gel -- but they originated from the four. 

Four punctures? 

Four punc…? **_'InuYasha.' _** The voice in the back of her head answered.

Four…? **_'InuYasha.' _**It repeated, as she raised her head, her gaze automatically going out the window, her feet responding to the same draw. Her hand pushed the window open when she saw the silver-white mane of his hair that stood out amidst the green of the leaves.

"_IN--U--YA--SHAAAA!_"

The increasingly loud tenor of her voice, as she leaned out of the window, had reached the hanyou causing him to jump up in complete surprise turning to look at her. She met his wide golden eyes with furious dark one, then spun away as he came down upon the branch, not seeing his literal downfall from there.

========================

InuYasha had picked himself up off the ground as she came around the corner of the house, trying to act as if it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing. Actually he had been having _some_ practice at it lately. 

He watched her stride purposefully toward him from underneath his bangs of hair, which concealed the fact that _that_ was what he _was_ doing. She had managed to don a blue tee shirt on her way out to him, but her feet and legs were bare of shoes and socks. 

He busied himself dusting the debris of the ground from his arms until she had marched herself right up and stood in front of him. She didn't say anything, only stood there glaring at him.

"What are you caterwauling about, woman?" he grumbled with gruff tones. "You'd think a demon was attacking you or something."

"It concerns a demon!"

He made a funny scoffing sound, and looked at her with a doubtful expression on his face. He was there and none would have gotten past him.

"A dog demon," she added more as a punctuation than clarity, raising a brow.

Trying to be as offhanded as he could, he asked, "You saw my brother around here somewhere?" 

Standing there stunned, her anger momentarily forgotten, as she asked with disbelief, "_You have a brother?_" 

**__**

'Good save, InuYasha!' He patted himself, a little bit too early. He was about to answer, when she shook her head to dismiss the direction he was trying to lead her in. 

"Wait. No. Aw, no! You're not getting out of this that easy!"

Busted!

"_YOU_ were in _MY_ room yesterday!"

"So?" he said frankly, having nothing else to be able to say about the matter.

Her mouth dropped open as she was taken aback with his answer. She didn't know what to expect, but the flat truth shocked her a bit, plus the fact that he didn't have any remorse of ransacking her room, let alone any embarrassment now that he's gotten caught.

"_So_?!" she repeated his answer with exasperation, her anger building back up. "_SO_?! You just don't go into someone's room whenever you feel like it. You wait to get invited!"

**_'As if that would ever happen,'_** he thought with another snort.

"That _was_ you that destroyed my room, wasn't it?! And don't deny it either! I _know_ because you ruined one of my good bras!" Without thought of embarrassment, Kagome shoved the ruined contraption beneath his nose, displaying the proof. "And I'd _like_ to know _WHAT_ you thought you were doing in my room going through my underclothes!"

He just remained silent, giving her one of his scowling expressions as he watched her, and realizing he wasn't intimidating her one bit.

"You know I got grounded because of what you did?"

**__**

He cocked a sarcastic eyebrow at her. **_'Welcome to the club.'_**

"Why did you go in there and destroy my room like that? Was it just because I touched your stupid ears?"

"No," He scoffed. "I was looking for the necklace, Baka!"

"You…" she was taken aback again, then as her mind raced a sparkle glinted her eyes. He went… he tore up… she got… 

That look was starting to make him feel uneasy.

"SIT!"

He laid there without a single word or sound from him, and waited until he had control of his entire body before even attempting to stand up. She was there, too, hovering over him with restrained annoyance. He wasn't going to get away from her, not while she had her weapon against him ready with just a single word from her lips. Nope, he knew it was coming, had expected it last night, but managed to have a reprieve. But first thing in the morning, not having gotten to wake up decently yet…? That really……you know……sucked.

InuYasha stood back up in the middle of the small crater he had made, making a couple of dusting strokes upon his chest before looking back at her. He tried to give her another menacing look, but she flashed her own angry eyes at him letting him know she wasn't one bit scared of him at the moment and wasn't backing down. He watched as she gave him the once over, returning her gaze back to his. 

Well, he certainly wasn't scared of her either, he tried to convince himself, all the while knowing that he was starting to get more and more unsure of himself when he was around her. But he wasn't going to let her know that, he wasn't going to let her have something else to manipulate against him, so he just returned her glare.

It was really all about two seconds, once her gaze had returned to his, that the expression on her face changed. Almost to one of horror. Her eyes grew wide and color drained from her cheeks. The tight line she had upon her mouth, loosened and her jaw dropped as if she was about to scream, and it seemed as if she had stopped breathing altogether. Actually, she had, for he did not hear her draw breath over the past few seconds. 

InuYasha drew his brows together even that much more, wondering what happened to have caused such a reaction: his defenses coming into play as he felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. Her reaction was directly pointed at him, not off to the side or behind him, but straight at him. He couldn't help to think anything other than the fact that something must have finally snapped, and she was realizing who and what he was. She hadn't seemed like she minded before, but the mortified look she was giving him now told a different story.

Well, he certainly wasn't about to show that it bothered him, and he set a darker expression in place.

"Whaat?" he snapped roughly.

She didn't even flinch, holding the same pose, and she still hadn't taken a breath. 

InuYasha gave a low growl under his own breath. Did someone put a spell on her to freeze her like that? But, then, slowly he saw her eyes drop downward, her head dipping in that direction a couple seconds later. His own followed her gaze, and there near his feet were two tubular, paper wrapped items that he had taken from her room the other morning. 

He heard a sound escape her throat -- it was a small strangled sound as if she was both choking and in pain at the same time -- then she slowly bent down, transferring the ruined bra from her right hand to her left. 

Once she was hunkered down, leaning over with her chest pressed against her knees, he watched as she picked up the two items off the ground and rose back up staring at the things that she held. Her mouth was still opened, and a bit of color had rushed to her cheeks, but at least she was breathing again. 

Abruptly she held her hand up, much like she did with what she called her bra, shoving the white things up to his face as her fingers clenched tightly around them.

"_WHAT are YOU doing with THESE?!!!_" 

All anger and agitation dropped from him immediately as he stared at what she had shoved before him. Now he felt the wave of guilt and embarrassment of being caught. When he was sure that she was about to prompt him for an answer again, her face did that contorted expression again only this time her face went completely red. 

As she sank back down to the ground, he heard her groan in the lowest voice possible, "Please, dear God, open the ground and let it swallow me whole."

InuYasha felt the tip of her finger tapping upon the top of his one foot, and he looked down to see what she wanted. She didn't even look up to see if he had even responded, seemingly, she just knew he did, and made a motion with her thumb. He responded by lifting his foot up.

He gave a soft growl of irritation as she reached out and unfastened the pink tabs that were across his foot. Damn it, she was going to take his foot pads too!

Kagome looked at the other foot but noticed that there wasn't anything 'attached' to that one. She was sure that if he had one on one foot then he certainly would have had one on the other also. She glanced quickly around upon the ground, yet still did not see it anywhere. She stood up, her eyes flew around everywhere except to meet with his, and finally she gave a glance upward. There, daggling from the foliage of the tree, in plain view, was the other 'pad'.

Her dark head dropped nearly down to her chest, and she covered her eyes with the one hand, while she pointed upward with the other that held all the 'items' she was beginning to collect. Other than that she didn't say what she wanted.

InuYasha's gaze followed her upward point, seeing what she did above his head, and with a leap upwards he managed to easily retrieve the snagged item from the high limb. He held it out to her once he landed and she took it out of his hand without looking at him. 

He stood there deep in thought, wondering just what these things were that would cause her so much embarrassment as he saw her entire face burning red while she tried to crumble all the items together as tightly and small as she could. It didn't make sense to him that she would react in such a way because of 'them'.

Kagome thought she could die now. The embarrassment of it all, of him having her tampons and pads; not to mention that he had been wearing them! She had came out ready to 'kick his ass' and now all she wanted was to crawl away. How could she ever be able to look him in the face again?

"What's the matter with you?" he asked harshly, having caught so many different scents eluding from her in such a short period of time. It was the wrong thing to do because it drew her attention to him. She started to bring her red cheeked face up, when her gaze stopped somewhere around his hips.

"InuYasha," her voice was low and strained. "what is that in your pocket?"

InuYasha followed her gaze once again as to which one she was meaning, and there in his right hand pocket was a small length of white corded string sticking out. He didn't even try to stop her as she reached out, grasping it with her thumb and index finger, and gave a small tug. It was enough to bring the item out far enough to see what it was, which made her issue another one of those small choked sounds right before she drew it completely out of his pocket.

Was it never going to end, she thought as she lifted the little item up until it dangled in front of her face. Her cheeks couldn't get any redder without her head bursting into flames, but her eyes felt like they were going to pop right out of her head, crosswise. She stood that way for several heartbeats, or at least it would have been that long if her heart hadn't stopped beating right then. 

"InuYasha?" she said in a voice that didn't fit the reactions that she had been giving him. In fact it sounded pretty calm -- too damn calm for that matter.

"Ummm…yeah…?" He answered cautiously, not knowing what to expect at that moment.

"What did you…," No, let her rephrase that question. "_Where_ did you have this?"

His gaze studied what she was holding up and staring at so intently, seeing that the once white cylinder piece of material was rather dirty and not the kind of dirt it should have if it had been dropped on the ground either. No, it was a different kind of 'dirt'; some of it in thicker smudges. He was wishing now that he had just tossed the damn thing.

When he remained silent, she prompted him again without looking at him. "InuYasha…?"

He mumbled something inaudible, turning his gaze to the ground off to the side of him. It didn't really matter right then, because she wasn't going to ask him to repeat himself. 

Kagome's eyes snapped up to his, looking at him with nearly a blank expression if it wasn't for the flush that remained tinted upon her cheeks. Her lips barely moved, and the sound that slipped out was so quiet that it was almost as if she hadn't said anything at all -- keyword being 'almost'.

He felt the immediate tug of the necklace around his neck, and found himself face down on the ground again. 

It didn't take him long to pry his face off the ground since she hadn't said the word with much force behind it, but no sooner did he lift his head and look up at her, she said just a little more audible, "Sit."

It took a few moments more, but then he raised his head again managing to look up enough to look her in the face. 

"Sit." She said in the same unemotional, flat tone she used with the previous incantation.

InuYasha debated whether or not to raise his head up again, knowing that she was still standing there, but eventually he did dared to glance up at her again.

"Sit."

He groaned this time, and didn't bother to raise his head out of the dirt even when he was able to. After laying there a while, he noticed that her scent had lessened as he dared a peek over the raised earth. She was nowhere in sight. 

Raising himself up, he wiped his face and dusted himself off, a little angry with himself, a little angry with her. It made no sense why she acted like she did and to plant him in the ground what…five times?

Glancing up at the window to her room, InuYasha could pick up the faint movements she made, and with a leap made with ease he perched himself upon the sill. There he saw her dumping the contents of a drawer into a basket that sat on the floor at her feet.

Balancing himself on the thin sill of the window, he put his back against one side and a foot propped against the other. Not having any place else comfortable to put arms, he crossed them over his chest. She shifted her eyes up and over to him, but other than that she gave no acknowledgment that he was even there. 

She moved to pick up the towels that she had left on the floor earlier and tossed them into the laundry basket also, then she went to make up her bed, which was done in quick fashion. 

"I don't see what got you so embarrassed." he pouted ruefully, gaining him a flash of her eyes. "And why are you so angry now?"

"Why am I angry?" she growled at him, moving over to where he sat in the window. "I'm angry because of what you did, and the fact that you got _me_ grounded! And I didn't say you could come in!" With that she gave him a slight push which sent him out of the window and crashing down upon the ground below, then slammed the window shut so that he wasn't tempted to return. 

Down below, InuYasha laid spread eagle upon his back, looking up at the now closed window.

"Oh, yeah…," he shouted back. "well,…that makes two of us!" He was so upset himself that he smarted off, "And you didn't even say 'sit' this time!" 

InuYasha hadn't realized his mistake, even when the window opened with a snap as it hit the top of it's height, and she stuck her dark head out the window.

"And I used the damn thing to clean my ears," he crossed his arms as emphasis. "so there!"

"Oh, really? That's good because I guess you won't have any problem hearing when I tell you to **SIT!**"

InuYasha felt himself bodily picked up, arms flinging out as he was flipped around and slammed into the ground for the sixth time that morning.

He laid sprawled like that for quite a while, and when he was able to raise his head, InuYasha slammed his forehead back against the ground a couple more times as he said, "Baka!" to himself each time. 

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END of PART 15 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Well, how was that? I did mention in either part 12 or 13 about embarrassing Kagome for what InuYasha was doing, so did I do a good enough job at that. Did it come across well enough? 

And how's the story going so far? I want to introduce a couple of other people in coming chapters if this story is going well.

Sorry about the 's' word, but I don't mean sit. It just seemed the right word to use at the time.


	16. I DO Have A Name

Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

****

Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 16: I DO Have A Name!

InuYasha waited in the high branches of the tree that grew near the entrance of the park just as he did the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that.

She was still upset. 

It had been four days since she had spoken to him, four days that he couldn't elect even a turn of her head. Even when he would make his presence known to her, she would walk right by him as if he were invisible. Except, maybe, yesterday evening. She did say _one_ word to him which made him sit in the hardest way possible. He chose to force an acknowledgement from her, which was not too wise of a thing considering, but, hey, what was his record at putting his foot in his mouth when it came to being around her? But he wasn't _invisible_, dammit, and at least he _proved_ to her he wasn't by making her do that.

She had become a fixed presence in his life in a very short period of time, and was making things so confusingly difficult. Her tears, her pain, her blood, not to mention her scent; then there were her 'thank you's', and her kindness, and her smile, and thinking his ears were kawaii, and the way she danc……

He gave his white mane of hair a sharp shake, then exhaled deeply, emitting a low rumble with it. Thinking about that dark haired girl gave him a headache, Besides it wasn't her he was fixed on, it was the Shikon no Tama. The bluish-white iridescent orb that would gain him what he wanted most in the world: to be a full youkai! It would cleanse him of his weaker half, and then no one would ever say or think he was weak or tainted again. It was with that precious gem that he would be stronger, better. _She_ was only ningen. _She_ couldn't change him into what he desired to be most of all. _She_ couldn't _give_ him what he wanted most of all -- except the jewel of course.

It was the jewel of the necklace he wanted, not her, and to get to the one, he had to somehow get around the other. Waiting and watching was all he could do until that time presented itself. But while watching for his chance to get the 'one' he wound up watching 'the other' even more. 

Yeap, he was in trouble, because he wasn't even making sense to himself. 

====================

A multitude of scents began to make the air a bit heavier, not long before students of all ages passed by there, alone or in groups, boys, girls, boys and girls. It was like an endless sea as he watched them go by; not one having noticed him perched where he was. Eventually, they dwindled to a straggling few until there was no one except a normal passerby occasionally.

He knew that he had not missed her. He would have recognized her scent, if nothing else, even in the midst of all those others. There was no scent of demon around -- at least none nearby enough to be of any concern -- not even from the wolf pack. And, he certainly would have heard some sort of outburst from her, if something _had_ happened, even at this distance. Without a doubt, he convinced himself that he would have sensed something as he reigned back the urge to go bounding off looking for her. His senses were too highly strung on alert not to have detected anything amiss.

Leaning back against the trunk, InuYasha settled himself to wait a bit more. He let out an irritated sigh, pressing his bare feet against the rough bark of the limb. That felt good. Good to have his feet bare. Good to have some other sensation distract his awkward contemplations.

He stretched and spread his toes apart, then dug them back into the bark of the tree. He hated those confining contraptions, which restricted his ability at the worst times, and at the thought of his feet being constricted as such, he flexed his toes a couple times more. It was also an effort to distract himself of wondering where she was at, but it could only hold his interest for a short time. 

Once again he listened and tested the air, but still did not find the familiar scent he was looking for. If she wasn't there soon…

====================

Cherry blossoms and… sugar wafted upon the air, which caused his eyes to open slightly. He inhaled the scent, and his eyes opened a little bit more, but he didn't move any more than that. He didn't budge one bit from the lounging position he was in, and, despite what some would think was a sleepy gaze, his eyes were very much alert and trained upon the spot he wanted them.

She was coming. Finally, after causing him to waste another hour waiting for her. But…? What was that other scent he caught that mingled with hers? It smelled of a mixture of some kind of chalky, medicinal aroma fused with the undeniable scent that was… male. 

InuYasha frowned, his eyebrows narrowing. 

He decidedly shifted then, moving into a forward crouch, but did not leave the perch where he was. 

Even before seeing the girl and this……male……come into view, the hanyou was already picking up their conversation. 

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you the rest of the way home, Higurashi? After hearing what happened last week…"

"I'll be fine, Hojo." Her voice replied gently, as they stopped at the side entrance of the park.

"Really, Kagome, it's no problem. I just want you to be safe."

InuYasha's ears flicked back a bit as he watched her smile at the boy. His lips drew in a tight line, fighting the urge to emit a warning growl, but he managed to keep silent as not to give himself away.

"Please don't worry. If I would have gone this way instead, I wouldn't have ran into those guys that day." She said reaching out to take her bow and quiver of arrows from him.

__

"I will not forgive myself if anything more were to happen to you."

"You're very sweet, Hojo." she said with a trickling sound of a shy laugh touched with a bit of nervousness, yet the nervousness InuYasha perceived from her wasn't stemming from the thought of the incident that happened.

He watched as she even did that lash sweep of hers when she felt awkward; eyes glancing down for about two seconds or so before returning to his face. They were even a bit sparkly, which match the expression upon her mouth. Sharp claws of his hands sunk into the roughen bark of the limb.

"But I can manage on my own now." she added.

"Well, if you're sure…" he drawled, uncertain whether he should push the issue or not, unbeknown that there was someone else that had a more definite view point.

****

'_Yes, she sure, you moron, she has me to take care of her!' _

"Really, I'll be fine." she assured, then her smile broadened. "Besides, I'm armed today."

The boy blushed slightly, as she slung the bow over her head and shoulder and the arrow casing just over her shoulder; having to adjust the placement to fit against her backpack. A smile graced his features as he watched her. "You're going to be a great archer one day, Higurashi."

Kagome laughed then playfully she snapped her heels together, straighten herself as well as possible considering the weight of her backpack, set her small fists upon her hips, and snapped her chin to the side, lifting her nose a little into the air. "Higurashi Kagome, Master Archer Extraordinaire!"

There was about two seconds, then both burst out laughing at her little tirade.

"Yeah," she added, the happy tones still in her voice. "maybe in about _50 years!_" After their laughter died down a bit more, she said, "I--I better get going. I'll see you in class tomorrow, Hojo. Thank you for walking with me this far."

As Kagome turned to leave, the slender, well groomed boy spoke up quickly, "Higurashi?" and drew her attention back to him. "Do you have any plans for Saturday? I thought…maybe you and I could go see a movie."

Ears of a particular hanyou just above them stood up straight. **'_You were suppose to leave, baka! Go away before I come down there and make you! Bastard! Don't you get that she wants to get away from you!' _**He threaten and cursed silently.

"Well,…" she said, twisting her heel into the ground before her. "I don't have any so far,…" 

**_'She's…She's flirting with him!' _**

"…but I would need to speak with my mother first. I--I kind of got in trouble this past weekend and I don't know if I'm completely off the hook yet." 

There was a brief flicker of disappointment that crossed Hojo's face, but then he smiled again. It wasn't a total loss yet, and besides if not this Saturday there would be others.

"Then I will wait and speak to you later about it."

She nodded her head. "Ok." 

Before she even got a chance to turn around to leave, Hojo stopped her again. "Are you sure, you don't want me to….?"

****

'Yes, she sure, Baka! Now go away!'

"I'm sure."

"Please be careful, Higurashi."

"I will. See you later, Hojo. Thanks again." she responded back, throwing her hand up in a departing wave. The boy waved back in return, remaining where he was a few moments longer as he watched her, then made his way across the street.

InuYasha stayed as he was, watching the other male. The scent he got from the boy definitely did not sit well with him. He had been partly aroused by her, tempered only by his awkwardness, and mixed along with that of the girl's……well, it was all he could do to keep himself from pouncing down on top of him. And that ridiculous, half-wit smile he had on his face….

Finally, the boy walked across the street and down the sidewalk on the other side, and InuYasha's attention focused back to the girl who had already gone a distance away from him.

Leaping to the ground, the half demon landed so gently that it barely stirred anything more than a whisper of grass. He straighten, looking around, then followed the girl as she continued to walk, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she wasn't alone. He didn't say a word as he walked behind her only a short distance away.

When they came to the underpass where their initial encounter took place, Kagome stopped in her tracks.

"Are you being my shadow, InuYasha, or are you just sneaking up on me to try to steal the necklace?" she asked without even turning around to see if he was really there. It surprised him that she knew he was.

"No, stupid," he retorted abrasively. "I was making sure that you didn't get attacked by any demons on your way home!"

She gave him a glancing look over her shoulder. Her lips parted to say something and then closed again thinking better of it. What was the use in voicing it? She had already gone through that line before, so there wasn't any reason to reiterate upon it again; she would only get the same answer. 

She turned her face away from him. If he wanted to follow her to see that nothing happened -- even if it was _really_ just because of the necklace -- she didn't care. It wasn't exactly like she could get rid of him anyway. She could 'sit' him, but that only delayed the fact that he would still track her down as she remembered the first time she had sat him.

Just as she picked up her foot to move, Kagome heard him ask gruffly, "Who was that boy you were talking with?" 

Putting her foot down, she slowly turned to face him; her mouth slightly parted in surprise of his question, brows arched upward.

"Umm…. you mean… umm… you mean Hojo?"

"Was he the one that wanted to walk you home?"

"Yes."

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, and with a stubborn look on his face, InuYasha inquired a bit more forcefully, "What are you doing with a weakling like that? He couldn't stand to protect you for 5 seconds!"

"Don't be so rude! Hojo is a very good person," she stated back in defense. "and I won't have you talking about him in such a way! He's kind, and… and… giving… and… "

"Finding it hard to find words to describe him?" He queried with a sneer. 

"I find it hard to find words to describe you!" she shot back in haste.

His brows arched upward. It was meant as a tease, but there was a hint of sharpness as he inquired, "And how _would_ you describe me?"

Without missing a beat, Kagome rattled off, "You're a bad tempered, fouled mouth, rude, obnoxious…"

"Feh! I don't see where you have a problem describing me." he cut her off in a huff, turning his face away in a tempered sulk. None of those words were anything like what she said about the other guy. "Why is it that you do with this Hobo…"

"Hojo."

His brows furrowed more and eyes rolled, as he corrected himself in a grimace. "Hojo."

Kagome didn't say anything. How could she explain something about someone that she didn't know herself? 

InuYasha didn't miss the pause.

"I don't like him."

"I think that it's _my_ business to decide."

Not to be deterred, he snapped, "He's just a weak pup! He'd never be able to protect you!" Then he stated arrogantly, as he straighten his shoulders to stand his full height, puffing out his chest, and then jabbing a thumb pointed fist to the center of it. "_I_ can protect you! You don't need that wimp nipping at your heels while I'm around. I _will_ protect you!"

There was a moment of silence between them as they stared at one another. Glittering golden eyes against sparkling brown ones -- brown ones which held a touch of skepticism in them as one brow arched upward.

"Oh, that's rich," she said in a tone that let him know how doubtful she was of that statement. Despite his previous rescue of her, it wasn't _'her'_ that he was proclaiming to protect, and she wasn't going to fool herself into thinking otherwise. 

When she turned away, the hanyou was taken aback. **_"Wha--? She didn't believe me?"_**

"Fine! Whatever, wench! As if I really cared!" he snapped at her retreating back, which was leaving him to stand there alone. 

Before she took another step, he was there in front of her, still in a bit of a huff. 

"Get on. I will take you home."

"No, thank you," she returned. "I can manage on my own."

InuYasha noticed a distantness settling about her, which was really starting to bother him. She had been all smiles and laughter with that Ho…Hojo guy just a short while ago, and all he managed to do was to stir up her ire. Even as he proclaimed he would protect her, she wasn't taking it seriously. Was she still really _that_ upset with him?

With his pride tweaked, he grounded out. "It's just that much less you have to walk, baka!"

Wrong thing to say.

"You know, I _do_ have a name." She shot back at him, eyes flashing as she returned her gaze to his with a jerk of her head. "For _someone_ that's equipped with ears that are much better at hearing than normal ones, _you_ -- of all people -- should have _heard_ me tell you _my_ name. Or, maybe it's too much for that hanyou brain of yours to remember!" She took a step toward him in set determination. "It is _not_ stupid, or idiot, or wrench, or hey you, or even _bitch_! It's Kagome! You got that, or do I need to pronounce it out a little more slowly for you to comprehend?" That last part emphasized as she pointed a finger at her head.

InuYasha stood there staring at her with a dumbstruck expression on his face from being reprimanded by her so.

With a heaving breath, Kagome moved around him with every intention of getting away from him.

"Hey," he called out after her, but she didn't stop. "Hey…… Kagome."

Hearing her name, both feet scuffed to a halt and she bowed her head. **_'What now?'_**

InuYasha walked up to her. "Get on," was all he said, bending down slightly.

"You're going to be persistent until I give in, aren't you?" she questioned quietly.

"Yes." 

Knowing there was no use in arguing, she sighed in resignation. 

"Fine." she said in a low voice and climbed up on his back. 

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 16 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Thoughts? Reviews?

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Question: Does anyone know, because I haven't ran across it yet, if in the InuYasha Series does InuYasha ever _really_ purr when he gets his ears played with or is this something made up in fan fiction? If he really does purr could you tell me what chapter or story he does this in?

Thanks to those that have read and reviewed. The reviews are what keeps me wanting to continue to post. Hope you are enjoying the story as it's going.


	17. You Can Play With My Ears

Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

Well, it's 1:30 am, my eyes are tired and every time I go to read a sentence by the time I get to the side of the document my mind's in la-la land, BUT I wanted to get this out. So I do hope it reads well.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 17: You Can Play With My Ears

Instead of taking her to the house like he did the last time, InuYasha stopped near the huge Goshinboku tree on the outer edge of the courtyard, past the Sakura trees. Before, she had been able to retreat easily inside when she choose to get away from him, but this time she would not have such an easy way of disappearing.

Bending down, he allowed her to slip easily off his back. 

"Arigato," she managed a soft expression of gratitude as she slid off and onto the grassy ground near the tree. He turned toward her as he straightened, but she was already walking past him in the direction of the house.

**_'She won't even look at me.'_** He thought in disgruntlement, and then called out to her, "How long are you going to be mad at me?" 

"Forever."

He winched at her answer. She had said it quick, flat, and decisively, which indicated she meant it.

"That's a pretty damn long time," he muttered in a sulk, stabbing at the ground with the big toe of his foot.

"Plus a day." she added matter-of-factly as she continued her departure.

InuYasha stopped what he was doing; his head quickly snapped upward as did his ears, and he stared after her. 

"That's not…! You can't be mad at me for _that_ long!" 

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't." He frowned.

"Yes, I can."

"_No_, you can't!" His own ire came into place.

Twisting around to face him, her fists upon her hips, she announced, "_Yes_, I can!"

"_NO_, You Can't!" he bellowed back.

"Watch me then," she said, putting her nose up in the air a bit as she turned and resumed her leave.

He watched as the distance between them widened, knowing in just a short bit he would be left all alone again, and no better off than he was before. 

"Hey!" he called out in an effort to get her to stop, momentarily forgetting the speech she had given him. Then in a much softer tone he said, "Kagome, wait." 

Still, she did not respond. 

In a measure similar to desperation, knowing one thing that fascinated her, the hanyou offered, "I--I'll let you… play with my ears… if you will stop being mad at me."

She froze in mid-stride. Did he say what she thought he said?

After several seconds, she managed to glance over her shoulder at him. He was still in the same spot where she had left him, and he had hooked his thumbs in the front belt loops of his pants. He wasn't even looking at her, seemingly more interested in the ground that he was scarring with his foot. 

"You…You'd let me… play with your… ears?" she fumbled over the words that he had said in a stunned yet unbelieving tone. "Really?" 

InuYasha kept his head down but gave her a couple of responding nods, grimacing slightly.

Slowly, Kagome turned, and as she walked back to where he was, she removed the bow and quiver from her. She laid them upon the ground nearby, along with her backpack, and then moved to stand directly in front of him. 

Lifting his lids, his golden eyes watched her while she just waited there, her focus solely looking up at the top of his head.

"I…thought…that…" her voice murmur gently, her interest held in throng. "you didn't… _like_ having your ears touched."

"Feh," he returned just as quiet, shrugging his shoulders. "If it makes you stop being mad at me…." He raised his head to look more fully upon her upturned face, then said in a child like manner, "Promise you won't be mad anymore."

"I promise. I won't be mad anymore." she pledged softly, not able to take her eyes off of his soft looking white ears. Her hands were up in readiness, but went no further than the height of her chest, as if waiting for him to indicate that she had free reign over them. 

The look on her face was priceless. Now, all he had to do was to say, 'I win' or 'I told you you couldn't be mad forever'.

It was right there, at the tip of his tongue to do just that, as a slick grin started to kiss at the corner of his mouth, along with the added sparkle in his eyes, but then he caught a real good look at her expression and, with a jarring awareness, he stopped himself. 

Her eyes held even more of a shine than what she had given to that boy a while ago; her lips were parted in awe with a touch of a smile in expectation, all the while her warm breath fanned against him. She was waiting… waiting for some sign from him that would indicate that she could…touch him.

The realization shook him.

He thought the look on her face was priceless a moment ago? It was beyond even that. This girl that stood before him, waiting so eagerly to 'touch' him, wasn't like the others that scorned and ridiculed him, that would yank and pull at his ears with curious and cruel intentions, or think and say he was a freak or worse. This girl didn't shun him because he was different, she was amazed by it. He knew that if he ruined this moment he would very well deserve that 'forever' she mentioned. 

He inwardly cringed at the thought of what he just nearly did.

"InuYasha?" her voice broke him out of his reverie. "Are you alright? You look… kind of funny."

"Hai," he answered quietly, trying to hide his own expression by bowing his head further.

"If you… if it really bothers you to have your ears touched, I won't……" 

"Keh, wench," Giving his mane a toss. "I told you that you could…"

When he heard the small laughter coming from her, his defenses instantly went up. With eyes narrowing, he demanded a bit sharper, "What are you laughing at?"

"The sound you made. Just not your usual 'Feh'." She laughed again, her eyes gleaming as they looked up into his.

That was it? That's what made her laugh? Definitely not what he would expect to have laughed at about him. He just shook his head. 

InuYasha knew that she would not deliberately hurt him, but if he remained standing, she would not be able to reach his ears comfortably. It wasn't like the last time when their height difference had been equalized by the downward slope of the steps, and he didn't feel like getting them pinched or pulled from her getting unbalanced, so he knelt before her and tilted his head toward her slightly.

He sat there for a moment or so, but nothing happened, then he dared a glance upward to see what was the matter. 

Kagome was standing there unsure as to what she should do. One side of her bottom lip was drawn between her teeth, as her gaze was fixed upon the triangle shaped ears. Her hands had started to reach out toward them, but were frozen in place halfway to them.

"You're suppose to actually put your fingers on them to be able to touch them," he mocked in a low tone, and he received a downward glance of her eyes. The hanyou understood her silent gaze, and added to encourage her, "It's alright, Kagome. I--I trust you."

As soon as those words were out of his mouth, InuYasha almost blanched. He trusted her? Where in the hell did that come from?

Kagome gave him a tentative smile, but he didn't see it as he had already dipped his head back down. 

When he still did not feel anything, he thought that she wasn't going to touch them after all, but then her finger tips began to glide over the edge of one of them, from the tip all the way to the bottom and back up again. He felt them travel lightly down the back of his ear, and heard her faint intake of breath as she discovered, at leisure, the true texture and softness of the hair that covered them.

She didn't stop there, because after her light caresses he felt her place the fingers of one hand within his ear against the pinkish skin of the cartilage while the other smoothed across the back side. 

He heard her gasp in awe, and her scent opened completely to him in her fascination, and he was engulf by the sweet musky smell of her. It was a sign that she had definitely dropped her anxiety and hostility of him. He liked that. And being where he was allowed him to breathe her in fully. It was like a calm peacefulness.

Kagome's fingers glided to the base of the back of his ears, and scratched him there gently. The longer she did that, the more he leaned into her administrations and nearly toppled over, if he had not grabbed hold of something to prevent him from landing on his face and making a fool of himself. It was just that the 'something' he grabbed with his clawed hands -- and which he still clung onto -- just happened to be Kagome's waist. Maybe falling on his face wasn't such a bad thing after all.

The hanyou couldn't look up at her. He was afraid that she would have the look of horror on her face in spite of everything, and he tensed for the moment to come when she would jerk or shoved away from him. He held his breath as the seconds ticked by, but then…nothing happened.

Setting himself back, he muttered awkwardly, "Sorry" but his hands didn't seem to be able to release their hold of her waist.

"It's ok," she replied warmly, and actually took a half a step toward him, allowing the corner of her hip to press almost against his chest as if to assist him to stay upright. "Am I hurting you?"

He took a moment before answering her; his voice deeper and a little strained. "No."

He waited again for her to move away or to say something about his monstrous hands upon her, but she surprised him once more. He heard something akin to a sigh of relief and felt her fingers resume their caresses.

Kagome did indeed release a sigh, having held her own breath until he answered her. She was surprised when he loss his balance and nearly knocked her over, but he had steadied her before that happened. Unconsciously, she nudged a hip into him just so she would have better support if he did that again. 

She was really glad that he hadn't gotten up, because she wasn't ready to give up what she'd been dying to do ever since the moment she first saw him. She adored his ears and loved feeling the velvety soft roughness of the outside and the silky soft smoothness of the inside against her fingers, which reminded her…… And her fingers began stroking his ears again.

It was easy to pick up the increased rate of her heart as close as he was to her, and it wasn't racing because of fear either. 

InuYasha felt her fingers venture into his hair; giving his scalp a bit of a scratch with her fingernails. _That_ was something he _didn't_ tell her she could do! 

Before he said anything, her wandering strokes returned back to his ears, only they ventured back again to his head moments later. She teased his senses doing that. It felt nice…it felt _really_ nice. It felt like… nothing he'd ever remembered feeling before, but it didn't matter, he was in a dreamy state of euphoria. 

She stopped her administrations wondering if he had had enough, but then he did something that she wasn't expecting -- he nudged her midsection with the top of his forehead and rubbed her lightly there with it. When her fingers hadn't returned she heard a strange noise coming from him. It sounded like……something between……a growl and a whine? Was he…? Was he begging?

Almost immediately there was another nudge against her; another rub, and Kagome returned her touch to the erection of his ears.

InuYasha was dying. He just had to be, because nothing he had experienced in his life ever felt so wonderful. No one had ever done anything that made him feel so…good -- except maybe his mother, but that was long, long ago; almost, it seemed, another life time.

And her scent… It was so strong up against her as he was, breathing it in right from her skin. "Kagome,…" his voice was husky and low as her fragrance flooded his nostrils. "you really…" Sakura blossoms and sugar,…… "smell…" and newly damp earth mingled with venomous death. "A demon!"

His head jerked back and snapped up, just as his body did as he rose to his feet. He sniffed at the air to get a baring on what direction the odor came from, all the while his ears were vaguely registering, "I do not smell like a demon!"

"No, Baka, there's a demon nearby!" he snapped hotly, but the aggressively fierce emotion was not truly meant to be directed at her as much as it was toward whatever creature dared to come so near. His one goal: keeping her safe. 

"Get behind me!"

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-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 17 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Special Thanks to all the people that read and reviewed the last chapter or any part of the story and still want updates. Even though I'm not listing every single one right now, I do look forward to seeing ya on the review list. ^_^!

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Special, Special Thanks to Lunatic Pandoral who has seen most every episode of the show and answered my question from the last chapter so as to how I wrote this chapter. Thanks for sticking with me from the beginning too. Also to Kitsune-chan-sama & her lazy muse Sesshoumaru that answered the other question as to the spelling of the word extraordinaire, of which I made corrections and reposted the chapter. Did you hear that Sess? Sesshourmaru: Huh? Oh. I heard that. (haha - hope ya don't mind, Kitsune. Having fun with that)

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Another Question: It was brought up to me by a family member, who I read my chapters aloud to so as to have a better 'reading' of the story myself, and I wondered how any of you felt about it out there. I noticed other fanfic's do this also, and I wondered whether to do it myself, but does it throw the story or setting really off to use only certain words in Japanese and the rest in English or should it be just written in complete English (example: Idiot instead of Baka, Thank you instead of Arigato)? What do you think? 

For myself, and this story, and having my question answered (thanks again), InuYasha doesn't purr, I mean, really, he's part dog.. Even though the purring thing is cute, and I do enjoy reading it in other fanfics, he's still a dog and I just thought he should do a dog thing, you know. But I don't think I'm going to have him kicking his leg, when he gets his belly rubbed, that would tend to be a problem later on in the story….(if you know what I mean).


	18. I Said I'd Protect You

Disclaimer: Still don't own any part of InuYasha, and am still not seeking to gain anything in means of profit, rights, or anything else from creating this. 

I really, really, really want to thank all the people that have stuck by this story, and for ALL the wonderful and encouraging reviews and e-mail I've gotten over it. I did not mean for this chapter to take so long to get out. LOTS of personal life stuff got in the way, plus I cornered myself in a chapter that needed to be done, yet I wasn't ready to write it. I hope you're not disappointed after waiting soooo long.

Yes, this is already an update for this chapter. I found a few typos, and I was corrected one the usage of a certain 'swear' word so I made the correction with that too.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 18: I Said I'd Protect You

Previous Chapter:

His head jerked back and snapped up, just as his body did as he rose to his feet. He sniffed at the air to get a baring on what direction the odor came from, all the while his ears were vaguely registering, "I do _not smell_ like a demon!"

"No, Baka, there's a demon nearby!" he snapped hotly, but the aggressively fierce emotion was not truly meant to be directed at her as much as it was toward whatever creature dared to come so near. His one goal: keeping her safe. 

"Get behind me!"

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Keeping on alert, InuYasha moved the few feet it took to reach the discarded weapon that laid on the ground. 

"Here," he thrust the bow and quiver of arrows into her hands, as he ordered, "take these."

"But… But…" she started, only the hanyou cut her off.

"Quit making noise," he snapped, unsettled at knowing that something that vile smelling shouldn't have managed to get that close unnoticed. It must have came from beneath the ground or been cloaked somehow, someway, because even as occupied as he was just moments ago, it should have been easy to detect that scent at much greater a distance. 

What frustrated him even more was the fact that the stench permeated the air from everywhere which meant it could be a lot closer than he knew. He couldn't just leave Kagome there while he went in search for it, so the safest thing to do at the moment was to keep her with him until he knew for sure. "Get on."

"Umm… InuYasha…" she started again, just holding the weapons in her hands as if they were foreign objects.

"Don't just stand there," he griped restlessly, looking over his shoulder from his crouched position. 

With a silent sigh, she slung the arrows and bow over her head and shoulders, then climbed once more on his back. Before she nearly had time to get a proper hold, he bounded into the air, and it was all she could do to hang on to him. 

After he was already in the air, InuYasha realized by the tight pull of his shirt that he had not given her enough time to settle against him before he took off. Yet, despite the concern, his regret was only momentary as he turned to another, more urgent issue at hand. Besides, he had a hold of her and wouldn't allow her to fall.

At the vantage point he was at above the ground, InuYasha was able to scan the entire area of the shrine ground, and still he could find no demon to be about. A low growl issued from his throat in frustration. 

**_'Where the hell is it?'_** he said to himself, annoyed that he had not laid sight upon it as he bounded from building top to building top; the scent of it definitely growing stronger the closer he got to Kagome's house, but his hearing failed in its detection. 

Dropping down, InuYasha landed with ease near the door. Once he deducted that there were no signs of that the youkai had been present, he bent to allow her to slide off.

"Go inside until I take a look around." he told her as she slipped from his grasp. Kagome gave a single word of agreement, but being otherwise distracted he only caught a glimpse of her going inside. Immediately he took off into the air once again, leaping above the house to scan the ground on the other side with sharp eyes. The creature was somewhere nearby, now if he could just get a lead on where… 

His sight caught upon the wave of mutely disturbed ground which laid between the back of the house and the brush and foliage a distance beyond it. Coming down near it, he scanned the trail, taking notice that the earth was only disturbed in one direction, which was straight toward the house. His golden eyes followed the path and saw that it went right up to the side of the house and ended, and since there was no apparent hole for it to have disappeared in, he looked up. Upon seeing the open window of Kagome's room, he realized with alarm just where the demon had gone -- inside the house -- exactly where he had sent Kagome! 

"KAGOME!" he yelled, rushing toward the dwelling, but no sooner did he leap toward the window, he heard the piercing scream of the one he sought to protect -- and it didn't come from inside the house either! 

His foot had barely touched the sill when he shot off toward the direction that he heard her, and no sooner did he come around the corner of the house did the snake-like creature race past him in a hiss as it gave chase to its prey. In one swift stroke he could take the creature down, but Kagome was in the way and more than likely she would get hit with some brunt of his strike.

"Chikusho," InuYasha cursed as he bounded off toward the direction the demon went. 

*************

Kagome's heart pounded as she ran as fast as she could. She only had a minimal lead on the creature and it was gaining with every step she took, and she was running out of ground to run. With the agility the snake had, veering off to the side would only allow it to capture her that much easier, but ahead of her were numerous stone steps. By the time it would take to run down them that creature would surely have a hold of her there too, for it wasn't possible to leap down them without getting seriously hurt.

Time wasn't something she had, and neither were her choices -- save one. Pushing herself as fast and as hard as she could, she silently prayed with desperation, **_'Be true to your word.'_**

Taking a literal blinding leap of faith, Kagome screamed, "INUYASHAAAA!" just as she launched herself airborne out over the steps. She closed her eyes as she soared, headlong, through the air, not wanting to see which fate was to meet her - the gullet of the snake monster or the snap of her neck on the hard, stone ground below. 

It was only a matter of a second or two when she felt something wrap around her, then bundled her up close in quick fashion. Moments later, she felt the impact of landing upon the ground. She opened her eyes only to see the familiar white hair and red tee-shirt, before his arms tighten about her and instantly sped off. She didn't care where they were going. She just knew that he would take her someplace safe. Yes, he would see to that. After all, he had promised to protect her.

*************

As soon as they set down, InuYasha was in a flurry of questions, "Where's the jewel? Did you drop it? You _are_ wearing it, right? You didn't leave it in the house, did you?" His eyes skimming around her neck in search of the jagged stones.

The necklace? Kagome thought dizzily. He was worried… about the necklace? Of course he would.

"I--I… have it…" and her fingers went up to grasp the ball that was hidden beneath her shirt. Without thought, InuYasha placed his hand against her chest to confirm it himself, but the instant he felt the orb he removed his hand. 

"Good," was all he said before he turned away.

Kagome stood there in silence staring at his back with his white length of hair cascading on down past his waist. She was at a lost for words at the moment, even to say thank you, yet even that didn't seem appropriate now . He… He hadn't really saved her, it was…… it had been because of the necklace… again. 

She watched as he sniffed the air, and then his golden gaze looked over his shoulder toward her. 

"What's the matter with you?"

She only continued to stare at him, not saying anything, and his brows narrowed.

"Are you hurt?"

Shaking her head slowly, she just answered, "No."

"Why are you looking at me that way?"

"Sorry," she murmured looking away from him.

"Kagome……" His voice was a bit gruff, and started to turn back toward her when his ears picked up the scrapping sound of the snake demon's body sliding across the ground. "Stay here."

"Wh--Where are you going?"

"To kill a demon."

"You're going back out there?"

"What else do you expect? I'm not a coward! That thing……it hasn't got a chance against me!"

"But…" 

"Whaaat? You don't believe me?!" he exclaimed from the expression on her face.

"It's… just… that… it's… so…" 

"Let me handle this. You just stand there and watch!" He swung away only to see the creature come into view.

Dropping his body into a crouch, InuYasha cracked the bones in his hand with a flex, then launch himself up and toward it. He was ready to strike out when the ground beneath him erupted and another snake-like creature burst upward, ramming into the hanyou's body. It sent him flying out of control to hit the ground with a hard thud. 

He skidding a distance before coming to a halt, and the next instant, before he managed to raise himself up, a heavy weight slammed upon him. He then found himself picked up, wrapped within the coils of the first snake.

"INUYASHA!" he heard Kagome's voice scream his name, and caught a glance of the frighten look on her face before being twisted away.

"Dammit! Don't draw attention to yourself!" he shouted back. "Stay where you are!"

InuYasha struggled against the crushing grip that the creature had on him.

"Kill the hanyou." The second creature hissed as it turned it's attention to the other serpentine demon that held the half breed captive. "A half breed isssn't worth our time, essspecially when there'sss ssssomething elsssse that we've came to devour!"

"Oh, yeah? You'll be eating those words in a moment when I split you from one end to the other and shove your insides down what remains of your friggin' throat!"

The serpents began to laugh. 

"You ssshould have ssstayed in your pen and played, little koinu. Now you can die!" 

Kagome watched as the creature coiled itself even more around InuYasha, immobilizing him. She watched as he strained against them, growling with teeth bared. 

He had told her to stay where she was, but all she could think of was that she had to help him out. She couldn't just stand there and watch him be killed. She had to do something or he was either going to be crushed to death or die from suffocation.

*************

InuYasha was just about to release his strike to free himself, when the flight of an arrow caught his attention. His eyes grew wide in indescribable shock. Momentarily distracted from his predicament, he looked at her with the most incredulous expression on his face. The arrow had buried its tip into ground, barely managing to reach even halfway toward the demons.

**__**

'You gotta be kidding me!' raced through his head as he yelled, "What the hell was that?!" 

But before he got an answer, the snake youkai slammed the white haired half demon into the ground. It was only moments later, in a burst of youki light, that the creature virtually exploded. 

InuYasha freed himself as the energy blasted through the snake demons flesh, sending the parts of it in disarray into the air. His one thought was of Kagome, standing out there in full view for the other youkai to see. **_'Stupid girl! She's going to get herself killed!'_**

"I told you to stay…awk…!" he started as he was coming out of the youki strike only to be cut short as an arrow went right by his head, disturbing his already flaying hair and its feathered end close enough to graze the side of his ear. He jerked away, but not before noticing that the other serpent already had its attention on the girl and was starting to charge after her.

*************

Kagome was trying to notch another arrow, but her hands were shaking and the arrow seemed like it was as slippery as melted butter. She had attracted the creature with that last shot, and it had turned its blood red sight upon her. 

It gave her a wicked smile as it hissed, "Yesss. Thisss one'sss much better to devour!"

She heard InuYasha shout, but at the moment she was too preoccupied to understand what he was saying, as the creature started to slide its way toward her. 

By some incredible luck, Kagome managed to notch the shaft and sent another arrow sailing through the air. This one reached it's destination, only it didn't have enough power to even pierce the skin and the arrow bounced off, falling harmlessly to the ground and crushed beneath the serpent's body.

"Sssstupid fool," it hissed with a laugh. "Your pitiful attempt to hurt me with your toyssss are laughable."

It was true. Her attempt to help out was pitiful and laughable. Not only that, she had put herself out in the open as an easy prey. What ever possessed her to even think she could help InuYasha out? She had only started her archery lessons, and knew how lousy she was. She was lucky that two arrows actually went a distance longer than a few feet.

Truth, luck, and the realization that she should have listen to the hanyou wasn't about to save her right then as the creature lunged at her with its clawed hands and an open mouth. Not even her feet could find flight, and she did the only thing she was capable of at the moment. As useless as the protective measure was, she threw an arm up over her head, then opened her own mouth and released a scream.

*************

InuYasha dropped his body from over top the monster, landing in a crouch in front of her.

"KEEP AWAY FROM HER!" he yelled as he jumped up to met the creature. He knew if he used the youki power of his claws, at this distance the momentum of the creature, the debris would still hit into the girl nearly fully force. So, instead, with a rounding twisting of his body, InuYasha caught the monster across the snout with his foot and knocked it away from it's intended course. With another twist, he pulled himself back to settle once again near the dark haired female. 

He didn't waste any time as he gathering her up in his arms, and bounded away again to find safety, but not before the tips of the creatures claws slashed across his shoulder and back in another attack. Being a snake creature, InuYasha's attack had only graced them with minuscule moments as it coiled with the motion and came right back at them for another strike. He gave a grunt of pain as his body jerked in reaction, but it didn't stop his flight with his possession.

Kagome glanced up to see his face clench in discomfort only a moment before he opened his eyes and set his face with fixed determination. She turned her own into his chest to keep the wind out of her face, and releasing the hold of her bow, she reached her hand up around his neck to anchor herself more against him. 

She closed her eyes feeling the warmth and security that he gave her. She could feel his body vibrating as he held her close, but whether it was unreleased energy or something else she wasn't sure, and at the moment it didn't really matter. He had rescued her for a second time from the jaws of that hideous thing. 

InuYasha took a moment to look down at her nestled against him, seeing that her eyes were closed. Now that he had her within his arms away from that damn youkai, he allowed some of his pent up annoyance to flow through him. He was upset that she had put herself in danger like that. He was upset that she had not listened to what he had told her, and drawn attention to herself. He was upset that she had done so in an attempt to help _him… _and _that_ didn't sit too well because he was the one suppose to be protecting _her_! And he was especially upset that she had done it without knowing how to use the damn bow and arrows in the first place! 

*************

The demon wasn't too far from their trail, but that was alright. He needed to finish off the youkai anyway, and had led it away from the populace of the city to do just that; all the while searching for a place suitable to put Kagome. He needed to tuck her out of the way before he went after the creature again, but _not_ before he had a few words with her first!

He descended once again to the ground to a grouping of some bushes near a tree, and allowed her to slip out of his arms. Once she stood on her own, he flashed angry, golden eyes upon her.

"You're _suppose_ to shoot the demon, _not ME_, you idiot!" he pointed to his injured ear, causing her eyes to lift upward to see the red crimson stain upon the whiteness of his ear and hair. She gave a gasp, reaching out to see about it, but he shrugged his head away from her. "I thought you said you were an extra ordinary archer!"

"I never said that!" she defended back. 

He made a pose similar to the one he had seen her make earlier, and in a spiteful change of voice he mimicked her. "Higurashi Kagome, Extra Ordinary Master Archer."

Her mouth dropped open as she stood staring at him for several heartbeats.

"That's not what I said, you _idiot_! I said Master Archer Extraordinaire! And if you were listening that much, you should have heard me say in about _50 years_! Are you _sure_ your ears didn't get damaged _before_ I shot it?" she exploded back at him. 

This time it was his turn to stare at her, but her words had only added fuel to the fire that burned within him.

"Well, I don't care what the old hag says, you're _nothing_ like _Kikyo_! At least _she_ _was_ a master archer!"

Kagome was taken aback, and found herself only able to stare up at him. Now he was throwing up some dead girl in her face? 

"And what the hell did you think you were doing out there knowing you couldn't shoot? I told you to stay put!"

"But it… was crushing you to death!"

"FEH!" He shrugged off her reason for her recklessness. "I'm not some weakling! It takes a lot more than that to kill me!"

"But…"

"Listen, I told you that I'd take care of it, and I will!" He turned from her to look across of stretch of ground in the direction that they had came from, a bit more irritated than he was before. He knew that because he was only a mere half demon she didn't believe he could! 

It wasn't that she believed he couldn't do it; she had seen too many amazing things that he could do. And though she had not seen him fight anything more than mortal thugs, she was certain that he could handle himself in situations like this. After all, he was a demon himself, and she had caught a glimpse of the other snake creature being destroyed. 

It was just that she worried, not wanting him to be killed. He talked a big talk about protecting her from demons, but they never really… talked… about much of anything. She hadn't given it much thought about him fighting things as such -- she was still coming to terms that he was of youkai breed, and that they _were_ real.

"InuYasha," she quietly breathed. "You're hurt." 

It wasn't until he turned his back to her, and his hair swayed to the side with his movement, that she saw the blood stained, ripped shirt and the open gashes that ran from his shoulder to some point underneath his hair, which didn't allow her a complete look before it laid back in place and covered the wounds completely. The blood also streaked his hair, standing out in stark contrast against the white.

He glanced back at her, then down at the direction of his back where her eyes were fastened. Looking away again, he shrugged.

"It's nothing. Just a scratch."

"But…" she started to say something, but her words dropped to silence as he cut in with a low, but emphatical tone of resoluteness, folding his arms across his chest. "I told you I'd protect you, and I will."

In the distance, InuYasha saw the youkai coming through the foliage, and once spying them, started to advance in their direction. He flexed his fingers of his hand just as he did before, and more audible cracks were heard.

"Time to put an end to this." he said flatly, then started to walk off to meet his opponent before it got much closer to the girl…… and the jewel she had on. "Doubt me, will you?" He added, his tone changed to that of an 'I'll show you' type. "This will be over before _you_ know it!"

He had already taken several steps when he caught her voice, not more than a whisper, say, "I don't doubt you, InuYasha." 

He didn't pause in his stride, yet the set determination was marred by the momentary half grin on his face. 

"Prepare to die, demon!" he shouted at the oncoming serpent.

"I will kill you and ssswallow your bitch whole along with the jewel on her body!" It threatened as it charged at the hanyou with claws displayed in readiness to slash it's target to pieces.

"You've got to go through me first," he snarled, jumping toward it; his right arm drawn back in his own attack. "And that's gonna be hard to do when you're dead! IRON REAVER, SOUL STEALER!" he yelled and struck out.

Lights splayed out, hitting the creature full force with InuYasha following right behind them. The creature started splitting in two, sounding between crackling electric and ripping fiber, then, as it neared the tail, there was a burst, and the creature exploded into several pieces. InuYasha landed upon his feet, halfway in a crouch, arms and hands still at ready to fight, and an almost wicked laugh came from him. His silvery-white head twisting to peer behind him at the damage he had done. Confident that things were quite finished, he straighten and gave himself a quick shake. 

Nope, that didn't take too long at all!

"InuYasha," he heard his name being yelled, and he quickly turned to insure that the girl wasn't in any other danger, then relaxed when he sensed no fear in her as she ran toward him.

Kagome had the expression of relief upon her face, mingled with that of excited victory as she made her way toward him.

"InuYasha, you did it!" 

"Feh! Don't sound so surprised. I told you I'd take care of it."

Managing to finally reach him through all the slippery, smelly debris, she actually jumped into the air the last few feet to him, and landed with a soft thud.

"That was… That was… so _awesome!_" she said, highly excited. There was certainly much more to him than fists and brawn and mouth.

InuYasha just stood there watching her with amazing wonder -- the way she sprung into the air, and popped up with a huge smile on her face at him, and how her eyes had the brightest shine he had ever seen in them before. She was definitely on an adrenaline high, and why he didn't leave it at that he didn't know.

"Uh, Kagome? You still have the jewel, right?"

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 18 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

I've had a few people request about defining the Japanese words in the story at the bottom of the page or something. I just like to say that when I use a new words of Japanese in my story, I put the English meaning beside it in parentheses. I will do a list of words at the bottom of this chapter, and as I use new words (if I do) I will list only those used in that particular chapter, at least for now. 

Yes, where I wrote 'what ever' during the part of Kagome thinking of her predicament when the snake youkai was coming after her, I DID mean to write it that way.

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I want to give very special thanks to all those below that have reviewed my story and gave me such wonderful comments and helpful support through this LONG period. This chapter was especially hard to write for me. Lots of problems with life, writing, and so on, but thinking of all of you kept me trying to do this one. 

****

Arindwen Greenleaf; Kai Angel of Death and Rebirth; Anime-mistress585; Razzamatazz; jschu25; masterdoppleganger; whitemiko; Pori-Pori; Viridian Magpie; drake220; Isilmeselde; Duet Masaki; Mattie; darth typhoon; Frisbee; Lunatic Pandoral; KhiKOA; kikyo372; sweetdaeth; Ryngr15; Batdz Angel; MasterMind v 2.0; rosaleena

Faye273: Thanks for your letter of support. I will consider your offer, should the need arise again.

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Baka - Idiot, Stupid

Hanyou - half demon, half human

Koinu - puppy

Chikusho - shit (swearing usage)

Youkai - demon

Youki - demon's energy aura (from manga) [which I hope I didn't use the wrong way in describing InuYasha's energy attacks. And if I did, oh well.]


	19. Go Fetch!

Disclaimer: Same as any other chapter before. (Darn it!)

****

NOTE: This chapter has been major revisions throughout. The theme is essentially the same (the ending section - at Kaede's - is the same also) but there are quite a few dialog and thought changes. There is also an additional part that the original chapter did not have in it. 

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 19: Go Fetch!

Previous Chapter:

"InuYasha, you did it!" 

"Feh! Don't sound so surprised. I told you I'd take care of it."

Managing to finally reach him through all the slippery, smelly debris, she actually jumped into the air the last few feet to him, and landed with a soft thud.

"That was… That was… so _awesome!_" she said, highly excited. There was certainly much more to him than fists and brawn and mouth.

InuYasha just stood there watching her with amazing wonder -- the way she sprung into the air, and popped up with a huge smile on her face at him, and how her eyes had the brightest shine he had ever seen in them before. She was definitely on an adrenaline high, and why he didn't leave it at that he didn't know.

"Uh, Kagome? You still have the jewel, right?"

****

***********************

Kagome went instantly still. Her body stopped swaying, and the smile on her face faded. She stood that way several seconds, then slowly she turned her head to face him. If one could go from extreme happiness to total blankness, she did. 

"What?" she asked as if she had heard but wasn't sure she had heard correctly.

"I said, you didn't by any chance lose the necklace, did you?" then he added in a much lower voice, folding his arms and glancing away, "Geesh, you'd think you were the one that got their ear shot." 

So, she _had_ heard what she thought she did the first time! And, on top of that, he threw in a dash of sarcastic insult! Her ecstatic state of being had the life span of about one minute before it changed into another that was in complete contrast. 

With something equivalent to one of his growls, soft at first then growing in volume, she snapped, "You… lunkhead! Something _other_ than your ear should have gotten shot!" Then she started walking away from him, kicking herself for missing the opportunity to see him frantically searching for the stupid thing when she said yes! She would have to remember that for a later time.

"Hey!" He called at her retreating back, completely taken off guard as to what had set her off. "What's got _you_ so mad?"

"Nothing," was all the answer she gave him as she kept walking, picking her way through the gory mess that strewn the area.

"You can't say that when you're acting all weird and walking away from me… _again_!" he returned, having to raise his voice somewhat because of the growing distance between them. "Hell, _you_ don't have _anything_ to be mad at me about!"

Kagome just continued her departure from him. 

"All I did was ask about the jewel to make sure it was safe." 

"Yeah… well,… isn't _that_ the million dollar question," came the flippant response. 

Eh? InuYasha stared at her with big eyes, more confused now than before. Why would his mention of the jewel cause such a reaction from her. After all, it was the _one thing_ of importance to keep track of. 

He wasn't completely sure just how much the old woman had told her about the jewel, but he did know that she was told not to give it to him. Surely the old woman hadn't told her enough, or maybe that brain of hers just couldn't comprehend what power she truly had around her neck. To him, she still seemed to regard it as just a pretty trinket; one to play 'keep away from the hanyou' no less. Certainly if he was after it, she'd realize that there where other dangerous monsters out there after it as well? Didn't this fiasco with the snake monsters prove that? 

Well, whatever she thought, the girl most certainly knew damn well how important it was to him! How important for him to know that it hadn't gotten lost somewhere. If that jewel slipped through his fingers just because of her negligence, he would _NOT_ be very happy.

"Oh, come on!" he burst out after several long seconds. "You can't seriously be upset with me about that!"

She didn't stop or say anything. 

"Kaaagooomeeee!" he fumed, the call of her name was intended to make her stop, but she just ignored him and marched on. 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Her only thought was of putting some space between them right now, or she might do something she'd regret later. 

**__**

'Yeah, like taking the necklace off and throwing it at him. He would know exactly where it was if it hit him in the head!' 

Ok, maybe he was right that she couldn't _really_ be mad over his concern for the jewel's safety. After all, it wasn't as if she _didn't_ know the one very reason that he hung around, following her. And he did make it a habit of asking about it every time they met, making it more than clear, in one way or another, the importance of the jewel to him. It was because of the little round orb that had him barge into her life in the first place. 

Still, it annoyed the heck out of her. 

Every time she had kinder thoughts about him, or he 'rescued' her and went to thank him, he would bring up questions about the necklace in such a way that it blew any well meaning appreciation she had to smithereens. Actually, it did more than annoy her, it kind of… hurt. It shouldn't, considering how rude, arrogant, and bad mouthed he could be toward her, yet it did. 

Was the jewel really the ONLY thing of importance to him? Didn't anything else matter?

How could she be upset when she _knew_ what he was about?

Kagome took a deep breath and heaved a sigh. There was that time he did save her without the concern of the necklace she wore. He saved her from tumbling down the stairs last Saturday. That counted for something, right? 

She had it in her mind to either go back or call for him to go with her when, the next instant, her feet slipped out from under her. So distracted in her thoughts, her attention wasn't on anything else; especially not where she was walking. She landed upon her back in a puddle of snake youkai gore, with a thudding splat. She laid there dazed for a moment; the wind having been knocked from her, then, either she had hit her head a bit too hard, and her ears were playing tricks, _or_ that was soft laughter coming from behind her.

Slowly Kagome turned over to extract herself out of the mess, and looked toward the source of the sound. She found the white hair, golden-eyed, dog eared hanyou looking straight at her. With amusement in his eyes, he stood there with a big snickering smirk on his face, which displayed his pointed canines. As if it wasn't embarrassingly bad enough to be sprawled upon the ground in a puddle of smelly goo! 

**_'You think that's funny, do you?'_** she thought as her mortification gave way to something a little more volatile. 

Seeing her brows furrow and the meaningful glint in her eyes, wiped the grin from his face and brought the hanyou to silence. Before he finished thought to even say the word 'uh oh', the dark haired girl issued the single word command.

"SIT!"

The beads infused with life and he immediately felt the tug as they introduced him to the ground, -- albeit ground covered in the same mess that she had fallen in. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy when he managed to lift his head. Even though she didn't see it herself, as she was busy sloughing demon fluids off of her, he gave her an irritated look. 

He was still looking at her when she gave her arms a strong flap, which wound up being the wrong thing to do, because it only set her off balance. Like a flaying bird, she tried to keep her balance in the slickness under her feet, but wound up doing a belly flop upon the ground.

"HA!" the single word erupted from his throat.

"SIT!" came from hers. 

Once his head popped up again, he gave a low growl, but other than that didn't say anything. 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Once the spell wore off, InuYasha was up in less than a heart beat, shaking himself like a dog (no real pun intended) to rid his own self of the demon's filth.

"Hell, wench, now I'm going to have to take a bath!"

"Awww, koinu doesn't like getting wet?" she taunted in a teasing voice still sensitive over the fact that he had laughed at the expense of her dignity.

He flicked a glaring look at her. "I ain't no puppy!"

"Then don't call me wench."

"Keh!" He growled as he looked down at himself, picking at the damp tee-shirt that clung uncomfortably against his skin. He was trying to avoid looking at her because, for one, he was still somewhat irritated over the fact that she was just going to walk off from him again. Just where did she think she was going to go way out here? And he didn't care for her choice of word to taunt him with either. He was well past being a little kid! 

For another reason… well, after landing in the youkai's fluids the second time, her shirt clung to her skin, which just emphasized her figure just that much more. But keeping his head down proved to be harder than he thought as he lifted his filth splattered head just enough to be able to see her through the shield of his bangs. She was doing the same thing as he was; pulling the wet shirt away from her body. Letting go, the material just hung heavy against the swell of her breasts.

"Keh!" he growled under his breath, forcing his focus back to himself. 

"Yuck! This is _sooo_ gross…" She exclaimed, giving her hands a flick, "and I…" screwing up her face at the offending odor coming off her, she added, "_smell_…_awful_!" talking more to herself than to him. "I need a bath really bad!"

A ready remark was at the tip of his tongue, when he thought better of it. In truth, he wasn't much better off at the moment either, and he didn't feel like getting slammed back into the ground, so instead, he just quietly continued to brush the now non-existing debris off him.

"InuYasha," He noticed by the sound of her voice that she was drawing closer, and the temper of before had gone from it. "could take me back home now?"

He was silent, refusing to look at her.

"InuYasha?" She halted in her tracks.

It took another few seconds, but he finally lifted his head slightly. Raising his eyes, not so much as to look at her, but to glance across the field, off to the side of her.

"Keh! You were doing pretty good walking away on your own." Lifting a hand, he used two fingers; wiggling them back and forth as to mimicked a person walking. "Just keep heading that way and you should be back home before midnight." 

He wasn't really serious, was he? 

"You… don't really… mean that…" She asked in a tone as if he were joking, yet her voice wavered with uncertainty. If he would have looked, he would have seen the apprehension in her eyes, which quickly spread throughout her in the very brief pause of silence.

"But… I…" She watched as he continued plucking at his clothing, deliberately ignoring her. 

"You don't really mean that," repeating herself, not able to think of anything else to say. "I-InuYasha?"

She went totally blank. ( O_O ). Standing there, she could only stare at the hanyou, that fidgeted about, determined not to look at her or say anything more. Was he really upset that she had walked away from him? It wasn't as if she could have completely left him anyway. Where was she going to go out here? Besides, it was better that she put some space between them while she dealt with the aggravating fact that he had such a one track mind -- and for a necklace no less! 

Surely he wouldn't really just let her walk all that way alone. She did after all have the necklace about her neck! It didn't make sense that he would send her off to walk home on her own. Before, she had to argue with him _not_ to take her home. There had to be something more. 

With eyes scanning over him again, she realized what it was. 

Taking a few more steps to close the distance between them, she reached a hand up toward his injured ear, intending to inspect the damage that she had accidentally caused. The usually snowy white ear and hair was marred with streaks of matted darkened blood. 

"Keh!" InuYasha sounded, even before she managed to touch it. Dipping and twisting his head, he took a couple of steps back. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I was… only going to see how bad your ear was." she tried giving him an understanding smile.

"It'll be fine. Just don't touch it."

"But…" the smile waned from her face. "you… let me play with them earlier."

"That was then. Doesn't mean you can just grab them any time you want."

"I wasn't grabbing," she objected. "I just wanted to see if you were alright. There's blood…"

Moving a few more steps away, he replied, "Don't worry yourself about it." 

Kagome drew in her bottom lip. Why was he being so weird?

"Will you at least let me look at your back? Those gashes looked pretty nasty when…"

"No."

Her brows narrowed, not understanding. "Why not?"

"Feh! I told you, wench, I'm fine. They aren't anything to worry about. They're nothing more than scratches."

Scratches? From what she had seen before, they were more than scratches. Any other person, -- and wounds like that -- it would have killed them, or had them bleeding to death fairly soon, but InuYasha wasn't just any person. But, still, he had to be in some pain over them.

"InuYasha…" She said his name under her breath, wanting to reach out to him, not understand why he wouldn't let her near him. 

"You know, you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you would have just handed that necklace over a couple of weeks ago. You're a dumb little girl without a clue what that pretty babble is…" 

"Is the necklace the only thing that's important to you?"

"Well, gee," he started up, completely unlike himself. "let me think." He folded his arms in a way that rested his one elbow onto the forearm of the other as he clasped his fingers about his chin while the one tapped upon his cheek. His head tilted upward slightly, as did his eyes, as if giving thought to her question. Then, nearly as suddenly, he dropped his hand away from his chin to complete the fold of his arms across his chest. Looking straight at her with a narrowed gaze, he snapped, "What you do think, baka?!" and threw her own quote back at her, "Isn't that a million dollar question?"

Choosing to ignore his attitude, she asked, "And saving and protecting me?" She gave a little pause for him to answer, but he just stood there. She knew the answer, but she couldn't help the need to hear it from him. 

**__**

'It's only because of the jewel in this necklace.' the voice in the back of her head piped up.

"Everything is just because of the jewel in this necklace." There was a pause of silence, then she added, "The truth of the matter has always been that you're waiting for the opportunity to steal it."

Another short pause.

"Aren't you?"

He didn't answer her, looking away in a huff. 

"Aren't you?!"

Kagome could tell that he was struggling to hold back answering her as he stood there with a somewhat boyish reluctance to speak, then he turned back to face her and arrogantly made the off-handed comment, "What else would I be there for? I wouldn't waste my time on an stupid, ugly girl like you if it wasn't for that! It's not because I like you or anything!"

The instant he said it, he regretted them. She stood there looking at him with those big brown eyes of hers, which nearly made him relent and admit more than he was willing to. He had called her ugly and stupid before, but never had they felt so wrong as they did at that moment. Here she was, concerned about him, -- no one had ever been _that_ concerned about him since his mother. But he couldn't let himself be 'nice' right now, and as she continued to stare at him unblinking, he could see the flood of tears that started to weld up.

No. Not that. She was going to cry over him again!

Kagome drew her bottom lip into her mouth and bit down upon it with her teeth as her eyes started to burn. She had asked for it, didn't she? She forced an answer out of him, one which she already knew, but hearing it still stung.

The jewel the only reason he was there. The jewel was the only reason he kept her safe. He didn't come into her life for anything else, to be anything else. The jewel was everything.

And everything was be because of the jewel. The strange happenings. The monsters. The ridiculous story behind it…… Him. Just how much of her life had been turned upside down because of it? She wasn't anybody. Not someone special. She was just a normal teenage girl, going to high school, with friends, and dates and dances to look forward to. What business did she have being on this roller coaster that she didn't agree to get on in the first place?

"Kagome, stop…" InuYasha was a bit shaken over her reaction, but then a smile curved the corners of her mouth even though she was still biting her bottom lip. She looked away from him, down toward the ground at her feet.

"You know what?" She said as she reached up with both hands and undid the clasp at the back of her neck. Taking hold of the jagged stones of the necklace in one hand, she pulled it from her, withdrawing the round gem from inside her shirt. "Here." She held the jewel out toward him. "This is what you're really concerned about. This is what you come to the rescue for. This is the reason that your stuck with someone like me, so… take it."

The hanyou just stared at the iridescent bluish-pink orb. There it was, being held out to him, and yet he couldn't raise his hand up to take it. 

It wasn't completely true what she said. He knew that he made it sound like that, made her believe that, but it wasn't the _only_ thing that he was concerned about… just the most important.

Raising his golden eyes back up to hers, he saw the tears trying to sneak over her lashes even as she rigidly tried to keep them from falling. His ears dipped a little.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but she cut him off.

"Go ahead, InuYasha. Take it. You won't have to worry about me losing it anymore. I won't have to worry about being chased by demons anymore. You can be happy, and things will go back to normal for me."

**__**

'This is for the best.' she thought.

"Kagome, I… don't want…"

"_What?_ You don't want this?" She took a step toward him, her hand tight around the jagged pieces as she continued to hold it out to him. "_This_ that you have haunted my life for the past couple of weeks for?!" 

InuYasha in turn took another step back, as if to avoid touching it. The firm resolve that was set upon her face made him more scared of her at the moment than he ever thought to be with the snake youkai. The tears finally managing to roll down her cheeks. 

"Here," She suddenly drew her arm back, and with a twist to the side she flung it forward, throwing the balled jewel as hard as she could away from her. "Go fetch!"

Through watery eyes, Kagome watched as the necklace soared through the air. Glittering shards of light splayed out from it as the evening sun glanced upon the crystalline surfaces. There. She was rid of it, and soon he would disappear out of her life forever too. A tightness clutched at her chest, forcing her to hold her breath, but the feeling she felt wasn't coming from the loss of the necklace. She was waiting. Expecting him to run right after it. Expecting to see a flash of silvery-white and red race across the distance and then vanish like the wind which he could run. But he didn't. 

In fact, even though she wasn't aware of the reaction he displayed, InuYasha stood there with an open mouth and eyes ready to pop out of his head, feeling as though he was having a heart attack, but he didn't go after it. 

The two stood transfixed to the spot, each in their own thoughts, watching, as the piece of jewelry started making its descent toward the ground as if in slow motion. Its jagged length waving behind the jewel, until it finally disappeared in the coverage of the grass a good distance away. InuYasha closed his mouth, then cocked his head a little, his ears lifting up to their fullest, as his eyebrows shot upward.

"That was a good throw," he murmured to his amazement.

Then they heard it. It wasn't loud, yet the sound was enough to make itself known, alerting any around that it was just the start of something much bigger to come. The sound was then like the cracking of a glacier, or the sharp grinding noise like that of glass being cut, growing louder as the seam spread. A snapping crunch resounded in their ears as though too much pressure had been applied to the glass. Brown eyes turned simultaneously with golden ones, their gaze locking with one another. Sensitive fur covered ears slightly trembled.

"GET DOWN!" He shouted as he started to propelled himself toward her. A great light flashed just as his foot touched the ground in his first step; its glow brightened and spread before he managed to reach her. He could not see, but knew he was on a direct path to her and continued until his body made contact with hers. 

InuYasha wrapped his arms around her as he took her off her feet, and tucked her close against him. He shifted their direction, tumbling them several yards away, back from the direction of the light. Without his sight, trying to run with her would be too dangerous to attempt. 

As they tumbled toward the ground, he locked her legs in with his so that she wouldn't go flaying about so wildly, and he could control their roll somewhat better. One arm wrapped around her upper back to keep her close as the other went up to shield her head. He twisted them so as to take the brunt of the fall first, but he could not help the jarring thuds against her backside as they tumbled over top of each other several times with 'oomph's' and 'ow's' and any other sound of pain that jolted out of them. 

They finally came to rest, with him shielding her with his body as blast of air washed over them, along with high pitch screeches similar to that of fireworks being launched.

A few seconds later, it was over. All was quiet.

The two laid there as they were, tightly meshed together, just a few moments longer until it was apparent that the worse was over. Slowly they unfurled themselves to look at each other. 

"Are you alright," He looked down into her startled face, blinking his eyes. He could see her but there were dark spots clouding his vision. "Can you see?"

"I'm fine, but I see spots as if someone set off a camera in front of my face. How are you doing?"

"The same as you."

Turning their heads, they glanced toward the direction that the light and sound had originated from. Kagome gasped at the spray of misty rain falling with glittering lights of color.

"That's so beautiful," she breathed, causing the hanyou to return his gaze to her. She amazed him. 

"What do you think happened?" she murmured still enthralled with the sparkles. 

"I don't know, but at least we're alive."

She glanced up and stared at him for a moment, then lifted her hand to the side of his cheek that had gotten smeared with dirt. She gave him a tender smile as a thought went through her head. He tried to keep her safe even though she did _not_ have the jewel any longer. 

"Arigato, InuYasha." she spoke softly. 

He couldn't help the warm pink tinge that suddenly graced his cheeks, and he shrugged.

"Feh, it's nothing." And then added, as he started to remove his weight from her, "Let's find that necklace."

An amused smile tickled at the corners of her mouth as she closed her lids and screwed her eyes upward as far as she could. She gave a soft snort of a laugh before he aided her with a pulling jerk upward. Yeah. 'Course. Wouldn't you know it?

Upon looking around, nothing seemed different, nothing changed, and by the time they walked over to the area where she had thrown the necklace the misty shower had ended leaving only a faint wetness where it had been.

"Do you see it anywhere?" InuYasha asked, the bit of excitement in his voice was evident, as was the desire to retrieve it more so now than before.

Kagome gave a sweeping look around. "Yeah, it's right in front of you over there."

"I don't see it."

"It's right there as plain as the nose on your face, InuYasha… or maybe the ears on your head." she added the last part a bit mumbled.

He frowned, looking where she had pointed, and taking a step forward. "I still don't see it."

"Spots still effecting your eyes?" She said as she walked over to the place where the glittering necklace laid so clearly to her sight. "See, I told you it was here." and picked it up from the cluster of grass and small outcropping of rock on which the jagged pieces laid. 

"You're still giving it to me, right?" his voice was like that of a small boy still hoping to be given the prize out of the cereal box. When she was silent for too long, he moved toward her. "Kagome?"

"Ummm… well," she gave an embarrassed type of laugh as she held the necklace up in front of her. "I…"

"You said I could have it." 

"I--I know… but… ummm… I think… that there's… ummm… a _small_… problem."

"Problem?" he asked perplexed, stopping directly behind her. "What kind of problem?"

She turned around so that he could see it too. 

"I… uh… I guess I broke the jewel."

"What?" His ears lowered considerable, and his face went blank as he stared at her, oblivious to the fact that the necklace was held up for him to clearly see himself. 

"The jewel," She jiggled it slightly, making it sway from side to side as if trying to attract his attention to it. "It's broke."

"The jewel. Broke?" he repeated in a stupor still staring at her. 

"The light really must have effect more than your eyes," She murmured, trying to make light of things, knowing when he did come to his senses she might very well be in deep trouble. She added as a thoughtful quip, "Or did you bump your head really hard?" 

She wiggled the broken piece of jewelry in front of him again, which finally caused him to shift his gaze from her to the orb that was missing the other half of it.

_Five_. He stared with a slightly open mouth expression as if he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

_Four_. His mouth clamped shut, and his brows drew together until they nearly touched between his eyes.

_Three_. His ears flattened, but she continued smiling only it was more of a grimace attempting to be a smile.

_Two_. She heard him crack the bones of his hands, as his nose flared out, and his one eye started to twitch. 

_One_. She scrunched her eyes tightly shut, clenching her teeth together, and tried to shrink her head down on her shoulders as far as possible, trying to hid her ears without drawing more attention to herself.

_Zero_. _"WHAT -- DID -- YOU --DO -- TO -- IT??!!!" _ He bellowed loudly, scaring away anything that was within ear shot of his voice -- save the girl in front of him of course that was glued to the spot. 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He didn't even knock as he entered into the small house with heavy steps, the door having been slammed open as he pushed it aside with a bit of force. When Kaede looked up, she saw InuYasha carrying the dark haired girl, Kagome, by the back of the shirt in one hand, and the Shikon no Tama necklace, broken, in the other. The hanyou had never been one to conceal his turbulent emotions, and the expression upon his face, as he stood there with a furious scowl, showed him to be _very_ ticked off.

The older woman's eyes went between the two before her, taking in their filthy appearance and the horrible smell which emanated from them. Her gaze shifted more fully on the girl, but she didn't look to be damaged in any other way. The expression on her face wasn't one of anger or fear either. It was simply one of guilt.

"She," InuYasha spoke forcefully, lifting the girl a bit higher into the air, then lowered her and stuck out the necklace. "broke it!"

With a snarl of disgust, he tossed the fragment toward the old woman, then released the hold he had on the back of the girl's shirt. She landed upon her butt with an 'oomph', catching herself from completely collapsing upon the wooden floor with her hands.

"Hey!" she cried out as he was already walking away. "You don't have to be so nice!"

"Yeah," he gritted between teeth, as he paced the floor near the fireplace. "well, it's as good as you get right now!"

In all the time that they had been there, Kaede had yet to say anything.

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 19 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Note: I would greatly appreciate your reviews. Did you like this new version of the chapter better that the last version? Anyway, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and they are what make me want to sit here and continue writing, even as crappy as life is right now. Thanks.

Note: That part about him mentioning about the jewel 'every time they met' means at some point, during the time they meet until they part, he brings up the question about the jewel (unless he specifically sees it as he did in Saturday Night). 

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Note: In the series, the jewel has been white, purple-ish, pinkish, black, etc.. just depending on how they the emotional aura to be at the time. I know I've had it different is various chapters, and this is how I want it to be. 

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Thanks to: RobinifYJ; gatogirl1; InsanexPsycho; MitsukiKikistar; darth typhoon; Razzamatazz; Draconic Ban-sidhea; drake220; Ryngrl5; Arindwen Greenleaf, for making reviews. It makes my day to read them. 

Tbiris: I'm sorry. I'll probably feel really stupid for asking, but ROFL?

Kiki Smythe: Thank for the suggestion of the meaning of Kuso.

Lunatic Pandoral: Thanks for the distintion between the meaning of the words too. I made note so that I can use as reference some other time when I may have need for the word. Also, about the Tetsusaiga. I've thought about bringing it in too, but I wanted him to be more physical at first. Being modern day, carrying a sword is much harder to do than in the warring era. I thought to have him be more controlling of his demon side without the problem of the sword, but that's yet to get all thought out. Oh… and sorry, I broke it after all. But at least it's not shattered in a million pieces. 

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Baka - Idiot, Stupid

Hanyou - half demon, half human

Koinu - puppy

Youkai - demon


	20. I'm So Sorry!

Disclaimer: Same as any other chapter before. (Darn it!)

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Italicized words: more emphasis on its meaning.

**__**

Bold Italics: One's specific thoughts. Inner Voice. 

~*~*~*: Lapses of time or Scene change.

Reviews are GREATLY Appreciated.

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 20: I'm So Sorry! 

Previous Chapter:

He didn't even knock as he entered into the small house with heavy steps, the door having been slammed open as he pushed it aside with a bit of force. When Kaede looked up, she saw InuYasha carrying the dark haired girl, Kagome, by the back of the shirt in one hand, and the Shikon no Tama necklace, broken, in the other. The hanyou had never been one to conceal his turbulent emotions, and the expression upon his face, as he stood there with a furious scowl, showed him to be _very_ ticked off.

The older woman's eyes went between the two before her, taking in their filthy appearance and the horrible smell which emanated from them. Her gaze shifted more fully on the girl, but she didn't look to be damaged in any other way. The expression on her face wasn't one of anger or fear either. It was simply one of guilt.

"She," InuYasha spoke forcefully, lifting the girl a bit higher into the air, then lowered her and stuck out the necklace. "broke it!"

With a snarl of disgust, he tossed the fragment toward the old woman, then released the hold he had on the back of the girl's shirt. She landed upon her butt with an 'oomph', catching herself from completely collapsing upon the wooden floor with her hands.

"Hey!" she cried out as he was already walking away. "You don't have to be so nice!"

"Yeah," he gritted between teeth, as he paced the floor near the fireplace. "well, it's as good as you get right now!"

In all the time that they had been there, Kaede had yet to say anything.

****

***********************

"That is enough, InuYasha." Kaede finally spoke up after having listened to the angry hanyou curse and complain for the last couple of minutes straight. Even throughout the recapitulation of the events, he had interjected as much, and she grew weary of hearing him. "You will find yourself sealed outside the door if you do not cease."

"I told you she was stupid, but not even did _I _think, in a million years, that she would wind up breaking it! This is _her_ fault!" Then he stopped his pacing, to direct his words at the girl. "_This is your fault!_"

Kagome sat there on the floor still looking dejected as to what happen. He was right. It _was_ her fault that it was now broke because she had thrown it as far as possible away from her.

"I didn't mean for it to break. I had no idea that it would hit practically the only rock we found out there while looking for the other half. I thought that…" She thought that InuYasha would have gone after it, but she had been wrong about that too. To say as such would lay the blame on him, and it wasn't his fault. She was 'responsible' for the jewel. She shouldn't have done what she had in the first place. 

"I'm sorry." she continued weakly. "I didn't think…"

"No you _didn't_ think, baka! What kind of _brain_ do you have in that head of yours anyway, or is it just empty space?!"

"InuYasha, I will not tell you again," the older woman said calmly but with enough firmness that the hanyou made a 'harrumphing' sound and toss himself into a sitting position on the floor with his back turned to both of them. "Not too long before the two of you showed up, I received a few phone calls concerning a strange light and what looked to be like fireworks being set off. Listening to what you have told me, I have no doubt that these sightings are because of that very same incident. Since you only found half of the jewel, it could be that the other half has been completely destroyed…"

"_WHAT?_" InuYasha twisted around, looking at the woman with a sickening shocked expression. "_NO!_" 

"…_or,_ perhaps, the other half, or pieces of it, have dispersed themselves elsewhere."

"It's not in the field," Kagome murmured remembering the scene after he had screamed into a near dead faint. "We looked all around for it. It's not there."

"Then we will have to wait until things start presenting themselves… or not."

InuYasha twisted further around, glaring at the dark haired girl with a wicked glint in his narrowed eyes.

"You had better hope that the pieces are out there or you won't like what I do next!" he seethed, giving her a display of his claws.

"InuYasha," the woman spoke his name. 

"Yeah, _what_?" Anger still seethed in his words.

"You smell."

With a growl, he shifted his furrowed eyes to the elderly woman sitting not three feet from him. "Keh!" he spouted as he jumped up and stomped out the door, but not before he gave the girl another 'meaningful' glance. 

Kagome winced upon hearing the door slammed against its frame again. 

"He's _reeeallly_ mad." she said disheartenly, not able to bring her eyes up to the older lady's, but then she heard a soft chuckling sound coming from her.

"Don't worry about InuYasha, child. It is the other half of the jewel that you need to keep mind of, if it should still be."

"I am _so_ sorry," she apologized again. "If I hadn't thrown it… What if you're right and the other half was destroyed?"

_"You're going to have one damn angry hanyou looking for you!"_ came the distant voice from outside. _"So you just better hope that its out there to find 'cause I know where you live!"_

Kaede just shook her head at InuYasha's outburst and the saucer wide eyes of the young girl. 

The woman went deeper in thought to what the girl asked -- what if the other half had been destroyed? In truth she did not have an answer for that. It was something that had never been brought up before, the idea of it had not ever been entertained that she knew of. The jewel of four souls had always been regarded with a great deal of respect and watched over with the utmost care, and to have it broken as such was something that she would have to give a good deal of thought to. 

Still the other half that remained held power enough to wreck havoc should it still get into the hands of any that were of evil, cruel, or tainted hearts. The same would it be for any of the jewels shards if that were to be the case.

"What's done is done. You cannot go back and change it. But tell me, were you angry when you did such?

Her words caused Kagome to look up at her, and reflect upon the events that had lead up to her recent actions. She had been pretty upset when she had walked away from him after killing that snake demon. She had been really upset with mortification when he had laughed at her when she had fallen, not once but twice. And when she took off the necklace, she was upset, but… it hadn't been out of the same kind of emotions. She had been hurting. She wasn't sure why she felt that or where it was coming from, but, just like the first day she had met him, there was… something… something she felt… When she threw it away from her, she hadn't held any hate toward him; only a sense of loss knowing that the dog eared, yet still stranger would be gone from her life.

"I was upset," she answered truthfully. "but not from anger."

The woman nodded, leaning more back into her chair.

"Tell me something else," she began again. "The necklace. Have you ever misplace it, or were not able to know where it was?"

Thinking back again, Kagome couldn't remember a time that she could not find the necklace. She could misplace anything else. There were times she could lay something down and return minutes later only for it to be gone. It would take minutes to even days looking for things, but she always was able to locate her necklace easily.

"No." She shook her head. "It was always in plain sight wherever I went to get it."

Kaede nodded her head again, looking thoughtful at the broken jeweled necklace in her lap.

"Perhaps child, we should get you into a bath and into some cleaner clothes. There is nothing more that can be done for tonight. Afterward, we will see what we can come up to eat for you."

Kagome nodded, rising up as the older woman did. 

"I should call my mom. The last she saw was of me running out the door with that monster chasing me. She must be worried to death."

"The phone is right over there," she pointed to a small stand that sat against the wall near the kitchen. "It is a good distance back to your home, so you should consider staying here for the night. I am sure your mother is still too shaken over the event to be driving. She can get you in the morning or I can take you on my way to work."

Both moved in different directions to fulfill the tasks at hand, but as Kagome's hand touched the receiver, she looked at the retreating back of the elderly police lady.

"Umm… Kaede," she called, waiting until she turned around before continuing. "Thank you."

Kaede gave her a gentle reassuring smile and continued on her way.

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

InuYasha had walked to the top of the knoll just beyond old baba's house, and plopped himself down on the ground. He crossed his arms more as a way of holding himself back from striking out at the stupid girl than anything else. _What_ in the world _had_ he been _thinking?!_

He should have taken the chance and crashed into the house that first night and taken the jewel when he had the chance. He should have just ripped it from her neck one of the many times she was near him, or better yet, just came up on her, scared her half to death, snatched it, and took off. He would have had it by now. He would have been full demon! But _nooooo_, he had to be an idiot himself and let the damn thing slip through his fingers one too many times. He had to go and actually consider liking the girl! Liking her enough that when she handed him the necklace, he didn't take it! How _STUPID_ could he be?!! She must have slammed him into the ground one too many times! 

Well, no more! She broke the jewel. It was her fault throwing it like she had, and now… now he was stuck like this. He would never be the demon he wanted to be! 

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, BAKA!" he cursed the girl. "You had _better_ hope that the other half _IS_ somewhere around to find, you stupid girl! You haven't seen the worst of me yet!" 

He continued to grumble and curse out his frustrations.

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It felt good to get under the spray of the shower. The warm water cascaded over her body in a relaxing caress. Tiny rivulets coursed their way down her neck, over her shoulders, down her breasts to drip off from underneath; downward still over her stomach and legs. Reaching an arm up, Kagome leaned forward and rested her forehead upon it to allow the downpour of water to beat against her back. She would have to turn around to allow it to get the muscles in her shoulders, but, right at that moment, it felt good just to stand there as she was. 

She sighed after a few minutes. 

Pushing herself away from the wall, Kagome reached for the shampoo and globed a small portion into the palm of her hand. How did things come to be as they were, she wondered as she rubbed her palms together to create a lather before reaching up to apply it to her head. She was just a normal girl up until a couple of weeks ago, and even then she was still finding it hard to believe that she was something more than what she thought. Sure a lot of weird things had happened over the past few months since her birthday, but since the golden eyed, dog ear stranger abruptly forced his way into her life, the 'weird' stuff was making itself a bit more real than she liked. 

It was one thing for all the 'weird' stuff to start up as it had, and yet quite another to discover demons were indeed -- flesh and blood, so to speak -- real. And even over the past couple of weeks, it's been hard to accept it as such despite having a near constant youkai… correction half youkai… hanyou… watching over you. It was true he did some amazing things that normal humans couldn't do, like jumping above the tree tops, soaring through the sky, and running as fast as the wind. Yet even with the claws, and fangs, and dog ears, and the things that Kaede had told her over a week ago, her rational mind just couldn't completely accept such disturbing facts. 

For all that she _did_ know about him, for the most part she just accepted InuYasha as just some rough, persistent hoodlum -- that was, until today. Not until she was chased out of the house by the giant snake monster, her family inside total freaked out, did it truly dawn on her the danger that both of them had spoke of. And that InuYasha was truly more than she could imagine.

Demons. They weren't just some fantasy story or a way people explained unexplainable happenings in the past. 

She couldn't help the smiled that curved the corners of her mouth. This certainly put a whole new light on history class!

After rinsing her hair, she began to lather her body to remove the remaining dirt and stench of the monster.

This Kikyo person was another thing to consider. She was Kaede's older sister, who use to be the guardian of the jewel before she died. No one had fully explained what happened to the girl to cause her death at such a young age. **_'She wasn't much more older than I am.' _**But she supposed that if it was something that they wanted her to know about, she would when they were ready to tell her. That was pretty much all she knew about the girl other than she looked a lot like her. The elderly police lady had told her before that she believed she was some reincarnation of her. 

**__**

'She must be very lonely living out here alone. She must have loved her sister very much too.' 

She smiled a bit more. Kagome was OK with what the woman wanted to think. She liked the woman, even though she thought she was a little short of a whole pack when she weaved the story about demons, the jewel, and her. 

**_'Can't think that anymore.' _** She mused as she stepped from the shower compartment into the bath filled with relaxing warm water. Settling down, she submerged herself completely up to her neck. There were a lot of things that she had to reconsider. Her life had just taken even more of a huge twist. 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It took a good while, and a lot of swearing, and stomping back and forth, but he began to calm down a bit. The Shikon no Tama was broken. Period. And there was nothing he could do about it. Whether the other half -- or shards -- were out there somewhere was yet to be found out, but the other piece was still around and that alone could make him more than what he was. It was better than nothing, and, to leave it in the hands of that idiot girl, it would probably wind up getting smashed or destroyed too.

He had left it with the old woman, but she might have just handed it back to the girl since she's suppose to be the guardian of it. Guardian… HA… what a joke! But between the two, it would be no simple task of just grabbing the thing. The girl would still sit him in an instant and the old crone… she'd be putting seals all over so that he wouldn't be able to move let alone get into the house. She was already forearmed of knowing his stunts of before.

With a deep aggravated sigh, he was going to have to give more consideration to devising a plan, but _after_ he took a bath himself. Kaede was right, he did stink.

Turning around, the hanyou made his way back down the knoll in the direction of the outside bathhouse.

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Much better," Kagome murmured as she rose out of the water and stepped onto the tiled floor, glad to have the sludge removed from her body and hair. She pulled the plug on the drain before moving to grab one of the towels hanging on the peg next to the shower door. She wrapped her hair up in it, then took the second one down and began to vigorously rub her skin until she was dry and pink. Dropping the drying towel onto the floor, she bent slightly over and undid the towel about her head. She then began giving her hair the same vigorous treatment as she had her body. Straightening, she flipped her hair up and back, and dropped the towel on top of the first. 

Raising her hands to her head, Kagome ran her fingers through her hair. She was giving the damp tresses a fluffing shake when the door slammed open, and there was InuYasha standing in the doorway. 

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 20 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The ending of this chapter. Was that cruel to you or what?

I want to give thanks to the four that reviewed the last chapter of my story. **sweetdaeth - **I haven't forgotten your request**; Anime-mistress585 - **hope you liked Chap 20 too**; Gohanzgirl - **and for the many reviews on several of the chapters also**; and Priestessmykala **- wrote ya. Thanks. 

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Baka - Idiot, Stupid

Hanyou - half demon, half human

Shikon no Tama - jewel of four souls

Youkai - demon


	21. In The Buff!

Disclaimer: Same as any other chapter before. I don't own any of them… (Darn it!)… (yet!)

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Italicized words: more emphasis on its meaning.

**__**

'Bold Italics': One's specific thoughts. Inner Voice. 

~*~*~*: Lapses of time or switch of scene

I do hope that you like this chapter. There are a few time lapses to jump to certain scenes instead of drawing it out to lead up to the scene itself. There are some not-so-quite-essential parts for the story line itself, but it just depends on how you want to read it. 

Important notes at bottom. 

Please excuse typos, it's already 6 a.m. and I haven't even gone to bed yet!

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Same Thing, Different Time

by: aishiteru_inu

Part 21: In The Buff 

Previous Chapter:

"Much better," Kagome murmured as she exited from the shower, glad to have the sludge removed from her body and hair. She grabbed one of the towels hanging on the peg next to the shower door and wrapped her hair up, then took the second one down and began to vigorously rub her skin until she was dry and pink. Dropping the drying towel onto the floor, she bent slightly over and undid the towel about her head. She then began giving her hair the same vigorous treatment as she had her body. Straightening, she flipped her hair up and back, and dropped the towel on top of the first.

Raising her hands to her head, Kagome ran her fingers through her hair. She was giving the damp tresses a fluffing shake when the door slammed open, and there was InuYasha standing in the doorway. 

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

She stood froze, as if all the breath had been sucked out of her, staring at the golden-yellow eyes which blinked, and blinked again, then, gradually, they began to grow, in unison with his mouth dropping partially open. There was also the little fact that he wasn't making an attempt to leave either! 

The shrill shriek that rose up out of her caused InuYasha's ears to flatten to his head, and she made a mad dash downward, reaching for the towels at her feet.

"_SIT!_" the command flew out of her mouth, and just as she jerked one of the drying cloths against her, InuYasha went crashing to the floor. A grumbling growl was heard as she wrapped herself properly with the towel before he could lift his head.

"You… Jerk! That's what you get! What are you doing coming in here on me while I'm taking a bath?!"

"FEH! As if!" he shot back. "Like I want to see your ugly body naked!"

"Is that so?" she took a tone of being offended, rising off of the floor.

"I wasn't coming in here to look at you, stupid!"

"You were trying to see if the necklace was laying about, now did you?" Kaede's voice sounded at the doorway. She had rushed to the bathhouse upon hearing the girl scream.

"Feh! You're not as smart as you think, old hag. If you haven't noticed, I'm still covered in all this crap. I was coming to take a shower." **_'But if that necklace had been within my grasp…"_**

"And you did not sense that Kagome was inside?"

He issued a soft growl, laying his chin back down on the floor. He hadn't sensed her in there mainly because he was too wrapped up in his own fuming thoughts to pay attention. That wasn't a good thing. It made him careless, off guard, and that was dangerous. 

"It's been long enough. She should have been finished by now."

"You can have it," Kagome still snapped from embarrassment. "I'm finished. I'll just change inside the house."

InuYasha mimicked her beneath his breath, _"I'll just change inside the house." _

She gathered the clean clothes Kaede had given her to use, and moved toward the door. She grabbed the hem of the towel, drawing it tighter against her legs as she approached the prone hanyou. 

"Don't you even try to look up my towel, or I'll sit you…" 

No sooner did the word slip from her mouth then InuYasha's head slammed back upon the floor.

"Oops," she winced, her hand flying to her mouth. "Sorry. Didn't really mean to do that one."

Kagome moved quickly passed his sprawled figure on the floor and she and Kaede made a quick retreat back into the house.

Groaning as he lifted his head, he mumbled, "Man, I hate this stupid necklace." 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After InuYasha was able to peel himself off the flooring of the bathhouse, he gave the door a decisively hard click shut behind him before moving across the room to the shower stall. He wasn't a stranger to bathing out in a stream or hot springs, which he could find around on his treks, but he hadn't felt like going out in the night to bath this time. Besides, he had used the old woman's bathhouse before and knew how things worked, and after everything that had happened that day, having something as easily accommodating as a shower was something he wasn't going to pass up. 

He didn't bother removing his clothes as he stepped into the stall. They were as filthy and smelly as he was and needed to be cleaned just as much. Adjusting the knobs, he stood there letting the spray rush over him, its rhythmic pelting soothing his troubled senses. It was nice just to stand there, letting something warm and gentle caress his battered body. Something he wasn't having to protect himself from.

He watched as the water flowed to the grate at his feet into the darkness of the drain below it. It was much like his life right now, things that he wanted, dreams that he had. All of it disappearing from his life, like the water, into some obscure oblivion. 

It was all that dumb girl's fault… and to top it all off she had slammed him into the floor for something he had not intentionally done… twice! Geez, can't a person make a mistake and not have to pay through the nose for it? He scoffed at himself knowing better; his whole life seemed like one big mistake! And he had made one for the last time where that stupid… _ug-ly _-- he seemed to force the word into his thought -- …girl was concerned. She'd already caused enough problems in his life. There was no way in _hell_ that the other half still remained. She had shattered his hopes and dreams the moment she had thrown that jewel! It was all her fault!

But a nagging voice in his head was telling him that _that_ wasn't completely true. He could have taken the necklace from her when she offered it. He could have ran after it and caught it before it landed. Hell, he could have really taken the damn thing from her any time he wanted; it was just a matter of not wanting to hurt her for some reason. Some reason… he let his mouth twist in a grimacing, almost contemptible, grin which mocked himself. He wasn't even going to go there. 

Dipping his head a bit lower toward his chest, he resigningly concluded that this was his fault too -- he guessed. 

Heaving a tired sigh, he reached for the soap and began lathering himself, washing away the outer grime from his shirt and pants; after which he peeled them off to rinse and wring them out. Holding the ragged t-shirt up for his inspection, he mumbled, "Damn. That was the last one I had. Guess I'm going to have to steal another one… " then tossed it to lay across the stall door along with his knee tattered pants. Maybe, IF they wound up looking for the other half, or shards of it, he would start wearing his outfit again. He wouldn't have to worry about having to discard his clothing because of it getting torn to pieces, and besides, would probably need it then anyway for it gave him a whole lot better protection. 

He sighed once more. The fact that the other half of the jewel was out there, still remained to be discovered. Grabbing the soap, he began to wash himself. 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Coming out of the shower, InuYasha realized that there wasn't a towel for him to dry off on. Little wench, she had used two of them! 

"Thanks for not leaving a towel for me," he shouted with just a bit of annoyance, without the heat of his earlier anger. 

He waited until he went outside to shake himself vigorously sending droplets of water flying in all directions. He would go get a towel from the laundry room to have something to wrap around himself. It wasn't like he could strut around naked, especially with the girl around. Usually he would either jump up into the trees or use his sheltered hide-out if he was nearby it, but tonight he had a feeling the old woman would be talking to the girl about things -- including the jewel -- and he wasn't going to miss out on any more then he had already.

After spreading his clothes atop of the bushes next to the house, InuYasha reached for the handle and slid the door of the laundry room open. He froze instantly. There she was. As beautiful as ever, standing in front of the washer. 

She turned her head to look straight at him, and it was like an arrow piercing his chest. It shook him to the core seeing her there; not a breath issued past his lips, not a single beat struck against his chest. Yet golden eyes darken as they drank in the sight of her. Gods, how long had it been?

He had a clear image of her in his mind, yet he had truly forgotten just how breathtaking she was. Just to look upon her again… standing there… It was like the years had just been swept away as if he had just woke up from a nightmare, and she was even prettier than before he went to sleep. 

But… that's when… in the back of his mind,… something began to register. There was something different. A change… Her dark eyes were rich with life, true innocence and a certain gentleness filled them. There was the subtle curve to her face, and her mouth was more relaxed from the tenseness that it usually held. Even the aura about her was far more calm than he had ever seen her to be before. Had she softened in the time that had passed, for he remembered her to have a bit harder quality about her?

No, she wouldn't have changed. She was too dedicated and serious to bend or relax that much. If anything, the years would have made her sterner, older… Older. Older than Kaede by nearly another decade. 

The beautiful vision that he thought had been his lost love of the past, wasn't after all, it was…

"K-Kagome," he breathed out finally after having stared at her transfixed for several seconds. 

The girl had turned her head at the opening of the door, and there stood InuYasha looking as to have seen a ghost, and yet seeming to have seen the most wonderful thing in his life. He stood unmoving, his one arm still outstretched upward holding onto the door, as water still dripped from the bangs of his hair to run down his face or bare chest and further still. So captivating was he with his gaze that she didn't realize that he stood there in all his glory without a thought of his nakedness until he spoke her name.

Just as her mouth opened, the reverie was broke as different thoughts raced through his head. This just wasn't possible! For him not to know that she was there… again? Not twice. Not in one day. Especially not in much more than an hour. 

Kagome gave a short but sharp yelp, followed by, "SIT!"

She was already across the room when he hit the floor, and was bounding up the three steps toward the door through which she had came into the small laundry room, when Kaede slid it open from the other side.

"Kagome, what is wrong?" Then she saw the white head and sprawled out figure of a certain hanyou gracing the floor. "InuYasha." she sighed, shaking her head. Does the boy ever learn? Between the both of them, she was going to have a heart attack before the night was over. "What was it this time for you to be downed?"

"How the hell should I know!" he spat out, his head jerking upward. "I was just coming from…"

"He's naked!" Kagome stressed with a backward jester of her arm and open palm, not daring to look behind her.

The old woman chuckled at the view of InuYasha's backside. "That I can see, child."

"Real funny! Gawk at the naked hanyou! Go ahead, get an eye full, since I can't get up to do anything about… Hey…!" There was a moment of silence, then in a quieter, muffled voice, he added, "That was suppose to cover something a bit lower than my head."

Kagome snuck a fleeting glance over her shoulder, since she had been the one to snatch the towel off the shelf and toss it behind her.

"Oh," she voiced, noticing his predicament. 

She could be mature about this. It wasn't as if she had never seen a naked male before. Souta for instance. 

Trying to be as nonchalant as possible, she moved toward him. 

For dignity sake, both hers and his, she modestly tried not to look, but after removing the towel from his head she had to give a quick glance so as to drop it upon the right part of his anatomy this time. Gingerly she let it fall, covering the well-muscled curve of his backside. 

"Sorry." She blushed furiously as she moved away from him, grateful that he couldn't see her face to know of her embarrassment as she kept it turned from him.

Well, it was true that he couldn't see her face, but he didn't need to to know that she was. He was demon after all, a dog one at that, and those fully charged emanations didn't go unnoticed. The scent flowed from her in heated waves.

"Kagome," he said innocently enough to cause her to stop. 

"Yes?" she returned, keeping her back to him; not seeing the mischievous grin that started to etched his face. He did admit to putting his foot in him mouth when it came to being around her before, didn't he?

"See anything you like?" 

It was a good thing he was still on the floor because the heat that radiated from her would have been like a sonic blast and melted him right away. Her reaction just broaden his toothy grin from one side of his face to the other. Her embarrassment was like sweet revenge.

Kagome felt her face burn like a raging inferno, which made its way up past her forehead and into the roots of her hair. She was caught between frustrated anger of embarrassment and the urge to go running out of the room for the same reason. He was mocking her modesty, enjoying her mortifying discomfort. Well, she could play his game, too… she hoped.

With as much calmness as she could muster, she replied sweetly, "Why, yes, InuYasha, I did see something I like," which had his smile quickly fading. "I like seeing your face plastered to the ground. Sit." 

Kaede, a silent bystander of the two, just bowed her head and grievously shook it, as white head of the hanyou slammed back onto the floor. No, the pup did not learn.

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(Approximately 15 minutes later)

There was a light rapping sound, followed by the slight sound of the door being slid back, but it only opened enough for there to be a crack between it and the frame. Just enough to allow her voice to be heard a bit better. 

"InuYasha?"

He didn't answer her at first, wondering whether she was hoping to find him there or hoping that he had left.

"InuYasha? Are you in there?"

"What do you want?"

The door slide open a bit more, but then stopped. 

"A-Are you… decent?"

"Does the towel count?"

There was a pause, but then the door slid the rest of the way open and Kagome stepped into the room. She found InuYasha sitting on the floor, leaning against the frame of the open door leading outside. He had his legs stretched out in front of him, which displayed a good length of their well toned shape. His chest was still bare, yet he had had arms crossed in front of it. He must have been looking up at the night sky, because she caught him turning his head when she came in.

"Kaede has food ready. Would you like some?"

About then the odor from the kitchen drifted in more abundantly since the inner door was open, and his stomach gave a gurgling growl. 

"Guess that's a yes, huh?" she teased smiling, walking down the steps and closer to him. He shifted and got up, staying at the door. 

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked, puzzled that she came into the room and not just turn back around and leave. 

"Yes, of course, but I came to get you first," she stopped in front of the washing machine. "and while I'm here I'm going to start the washer so my clothes are clean of that smelly slim. I… uh… kind of didn't get around to starting it before."

"Having too much fun slamming my face into the floor," he mumbled in a passing growl, heading toward the inner part of the house.

She heaved a heavy sigh as she reached for the box of detergent. She didn't want to fight with him anymore, even if it was to defend herself against something that wasn't true. She didn't do it for fun. 

"Where are your clothes, InuYasha?"

His feet faltered to a stop just before he put his foot upon the first step, and looked at her from over his shoulder.

"I washed them and they're spread out on the bushes next to the house. Why?"

"Just wondered." she shrugged dumping a scoopful powered detergent into the running water. "Why didn't you put them in the washer?"

"Kaede won't let me use it."

She didn't question as to why, but she twisted slightly to look at him, waving her hand as to shoo him away.

"You should go get something to eat. I'll be there in a minute after I set this."

InuYasha just turned and left the room, oblivious of the eyes that watched him saunter down the hallway. His stomach and nose had more important issues to be concerned with.

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kagome sat across from InuYasha at the kitchen bar with a smile on her face as she ate. She had her attention upon the bowl in front of her, wiggling from side to side as if she was moving to some inaudible tune.

"What the hell are you so happy about?" he griped. 

Kagome stopped moving, the spoon only halfway to her mouth. 

"Nothing." she answered and shoved the utensil into her mouth, the smile not disappearing.

He leaned closer across the table, eyeing her with sharp golden eyes. 

"What are you up to?"

"What's your problem?" She gave him a flashing glance of her warm chocolate eyes. "I'm not up to anything." Yet the smile just wouldn't leave her face. She returned her attention to the bowl in front of her, digging the spoon back into it. "I'm just sitting here eating. My stomach is happy that there's food in it finally."

He sniffed the air. She wasn't completely telling the truth.

"Liar."

Her mouth was already open for another spoonful of food, when she froze again. Her eyes snapped back up to his revealing her startlement.

"I am not." A slight blush crept into her cheeks, dark lashes sweeping down across her cheeks as she shoved the spoon into her mouth again.

One corner of his mouth curled. "Are too." He spoke too smoothly. "Your scent's too sweet. You're thinking about something and your getting off on it."

The bite that she had just put in her mouth spewed out, and she quickly covered her mouth as she started coughing.

"InuYasha, be minding yourself." the older woman's voice came from the living area only several feet away.

He chuckled to himself as he looked down at his own bowl of food and started shoveling it into his own mouth. He caught a moments glance of her looking at him with an alarmed gaze.

"Oh, you're really hilarious." she finally managed to squeak out, taking her napkin to wipe her chin and places on the table that she spit her food. 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Throughout the time she stood there washing the dishes, Kagome could feel heat upon her back as if she was being stared at. She had the urge to glance over her shoulder, she had even stopped what she was doing a few times, but then she didn't. The only person that would be staring at her would be InuYasha, but why would he be staring at her for? It certainly wouldn't because he had thoughts about seeing her naked -- an embarrassed blush crept onto her cheeks. He had already told her, on a few other occasions too, that he didn't find her pretty, so what could cause him to stare if indeed it was him? 

**_'Probably thinking 101 ways to kill me for breaking that jewel,'_** she mused, dishearten at the thought of the problems she unwittingly caused. 

All the dishes that had been dirtied were now finished, except for InuYasha's. She turned to see if he was finished eating, and caught him staring at her with a seriously intense gaze. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He was looking straight at her, but when she spoke, it was as if some light came on, and he was actually just now seeing her. Their gazes locked for about five seconds, but he didn't say anything. 

InuYasha just shrugged, looking away, then got up and moved into the living room, where he sat at one end of the futon that furnished the room. His gaze did not return back toward the kitchen or to her, focusing instead upon something more off to the side in front of him.

The dark haired girl in the kitchen continued to stare at him, wondering about his solemn expression as she picked up his bowl and utensils.

**_'What are you thinking about, InuYasha? Are you really still so mad at me?'_** she wondered, taking the last of the dishes over to the sink to wash. 

****

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They were all settled into the living area. Kaede sat back in the old rocker that she had been sitting in when they came barging into the house. Kagome lounged upon the same futon that InuYasha sat on, propped up on some pillows with a blanket covering her outstretched legs. InuYasha had not moved at all, still staring at the same spot he had been earlier. Kagome would have sworn he was asleep if his eyes weren't open.

"Even with as much evil that one can arise with the jewel," the woman continued to speak. "there is the possibility of good also. But whatever good that could have come out of it, cannot be with the other half missing. _If_, in fact, the other half has not been destroyed, it is hard to say how many pieces it could be in, but it would only take one in the wrong hands to bring a great deal of adversity." 

There was a slight pause, whereas neither of the two younger persons in the room said anything. 

"I must warn you that if, in fact again, the other half has not been destroyed there will most likely be many dangers that you will come across to obtain it. To succeed in recovering the other half, or shards, the two of you will have to work together."

"What?" Kagome gasped.

"You, Kagome, are the keeper of the sacred jewel, and I believe that just as you have been able to sense the whereabouts of your necklace, you will be able to sense the whereabouts of the missing jewel piece. InuYasha will be the strength that would be needed to recover it or them."

The stony appearance of the hanyou broke and a light snort rose up out of him. "As long as we can find the rest of the jewel…" He didn't sound as though he was finished with what he was saying finish, but he did not continue further.

"I believe that it has been a long, eventful day for all of us, and there is work I have to go to tomorrow. All we can do is wait until 'occurrences' begin to appear. For now, I think it is time to get some rest, and I suggest that the two of you get some also. If there is anything you need, Kagome, I will just be in the next room down the hall. InuYasha…"

"Yeah, what?" 

She paused for a moment wondering if there was any use saying anything to him. 

"Do not cause any trouble." she said as she turned and made her way to the room that she had just spoken of.

The half demon's head turned to watch, along with the girl, as the woman left the room and disappeared. As soon as she had, InuYasha turned his head more and looked at Kagome. 

"Where are you sleeping tonight?"

Kagome turned her head to face him, her brows shot upward and her lips parted a bit. Was he serious? She was half stretched out on the futon leaning against a pillow with a blanket covering most of her.

"Where do you think?" She was going to add stupid, but that was his choice of word.

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking. _This_ is my spot." He added emphasis by pointing with his finger down to the futon they were on.

Now her mouth did drop a bit more. This was his spot? And just where did he think…?!

"Do you live here?"

"No."

"Then _why_ do you _think_ that this is _your_ spot!"

"It's where I sleep whenever I _am_ here, that's why, baka!"

"Well, it's not yours tonight. Find somewhere else."

"I don't want too!" his eyes narrowed. "This is my spot!"

"It's not yours tonight, you big baby. Get off!"

"No, you get off!"

"Inconsiderate jerk."

"Jewel breaker!"

"I know of another jewel that can get broke!"

"I'm not getting off this bed and you can't make me!"

Kagome snorted, but not the kind that was out of laughter. "All I have to do is say the 's' word and you're flatter than a pancake!"

And it certainly wasn't funny to the hanyou, especially at the mentioning of _that_. 

Folding his arms, InuYasha turned his face away in a huff, determined he wasn't budging. He waited, half expecting her to say the cursed word, but it didn't come. 

There was long moments of silence, when his voice suggested gruffly, "We could share."

"I'm not sleeping with you!" she gaped incredulously.

"Why not? Something wrong with me that you can't stand the thought of being next to?"

The words hanyou or half-breed were the first that came to mind in a list of ones that he had heard mentioned toward him over the years of his existence. But the ones that did come out of her mouth really wasn't quite what he would have expected to hear.

"You're naked!"

"I am not! I've got a towel on!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. 

"You -- are -- not -- sleeping -- here -- with -- me."

"Well, I'm not moving from _this_ spot!"

"Fine. You stay on that end, and I'll stay on this end."

"You've got more room than I do."

Kagome looked at him and made a growling sound herself from being frustrated, but instead of saying anything she just flopped herself down on the pillow, drawing the covers up around her shoulders. Then she drew her legs up a bit until she had herself contained to half of the makeshift bed.

"There. Happy?"

He didn't say anything. He didn't even turn his head until some moments later when he was sure that she had closed her eyes. He was surprised that she hadn't really forced him to get up and go somewhere else. Kikyo would have. She would have made him leave the house completely. 

Looking around, there wasn't anywhere else much to go in the sparse room, and even though he was use to not having a 'bed' more times than so, he didn't feel like being on the floor. There were chairs, but they weren't that comfortable to fall asleep in either. 

His memory flashed back to the incident with a rocking chair in which the old woman still didn't forgive him for. He had fallen asleep in the old wicker chair, having rocked himself to sleep with a gentle push of one foot. The next morning when he went to stretch, it had toppled over backwards on him. The old woman was _pretty_ upset that the pile of kindling wood next to the fireplace had been her favorite chair! If anything, he bet the one that sat across from him had a seal on the bottom of it, perhaps a very mild one, but enough to be a warning should he forget. 

With a despondent breath, he turned his gaze back to the girl realizing that she had been watching him. 

"What is it, InuYasha?" her voice asked quietly, as his lips pulled into a slight frown. 

"Nothing." He looked away, then added, "Just the lights are on."

He felt an immediate shifting of the mattress, and from the corners of his eyes he could see that she had sat up. Her hand was on the edge of the blanket, which had started to lift when, of a sudden, she stopped. She glance back at him with a sardonic expression.

"Nice try." 

"Can't blame me for giving it a shot." he mumbled, getting up as she sank back down. Seconds later he was back on the futon where he had been sitting, faintly surprised that she hadn't stuck her legs out to prevent him from sitting back down.

He felt the mattress shifting once again, and when he glanced over, he saw that the girl was sitting up, facing him.

"Here," she said as she pushed a pillow into his lap. "I figure that would be the next thing you'd whine about."

"Ha, you're so wrong," he smirched. 

"Oh?"

"I was going to say something about the blanket."

"You know…" She was just about ready to shake a finger at him of all things. "You're impossible."

"What… the light bulb just suddenly flash in your head about _that_ one?" 

She shook her head, dropping her face in her hands. He was worse than her little brother!

What was she to do with him, she thought as she lifted her head, sliding her hands down a bit to uncovered her eyes as that she was able to look at him again. It was a good thing that her hands still remained over the lower part of her face because it stifled the sharp intake of air she took. 

Looking at InuYasha now, the moon's glow reflected like bright silver off the normally warm golden eyes. It gave a sharpness to the white of his tousled mane of hair and ears, along with a silvery glow against the smooth perfect ness of his skin. It gave him a truly eerie, demonish look.

Oookay… sooo… maybe he didn't look like just a street punk ruffian. 

Dropping her hands upon her lap, she asked softly, "InuYasha?" 

"What?"

"Will you let me look at your ear?"

"It's fine."

"Please?"

He was silent for a few moments, then he leaned back against the futon, almost as if he was going to ignore her. He even turned his face away from her to look once again at the spot he had before for so long.

"Why?"

"I just want to make sure it's alright. It would make me feel better especially knowing I was the one the hurt you and there being so much blood…"

"You don't need to worry yourself about me, Kagome."

"How can I not? You did after all save me a few times today."

He returned his gaze to her. Then, without a word, InuYasha quirked his head a bit and tilted it forward. 

****

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* END Of Part 21 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Was that mean or what to leave it like that for now?

Also, yes, I know that this chapter ran up and down with emotions. Hope that it didn't make it too choppy. 

Before anyone makes a comment on Kaede talking about the "…even with as much evil that one can arise with the jewel, there is the possibility of good also." I want to say that is my take on it. Usually the jewel or shards bring out the 'evil' side of anything (which usually have an evil intent anyway), but Koga's has them in his legs and he's not bad -- I don't believe -- and Kikyo was giving the jewel to InuYasha to turn him human -- still not a bad thing, considering. 

Also, the "…whatever good that could have come out of it, cannot be with the other half missing" I made up too, but I think that's a given thing in the original story as the jewel has to be whole for its full potential. (But those little pieces don't mind wreaking havoc do they?)

Hope it reads with a good enough flow. 

I want to thank ALL the people that have read my story, and especially those of you that have made reviews. I have greatly appreciated every one of them, and they have made what was just a mere fantasy of jotted writings into a more meaningful desire to write. 

I don't know what else to say. I know there are times that I don't thank a person personally by note, but I do consider what's been written in review very important. 

I also wanted to say that after this chapter I may take a break. I'm not quitting the story, but things will depend on what happens at the end of this week. I'm not sure just when the next post will be made if things aren't good. Just please don't lose me from you thoughts. 

Aishiteru_inu 


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